Saving Me
by Lupinotuum
Summary: The team continues their job at helping innocents after taking down Moreau. However instead of a nice beginning, Nate gets a call from an old friend and she's in despair. Her sister was murdered and it's up to him and his team to figure out who did it.
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hey guys, this may be a bit crappy since I'm hopping back on the writing wagon. R&R would be AMAZING. Also, I don't own Leverage or any of their characters. I do own the OC's such as Skye and Lisa Jenson. I wish I owned Eliot Spencer :P. Enjoy!**

"Alright guys, here are the portfolio's of a few possible clients." Nate tossed down several folders onto the coffee table, glancing at the familiar faces of his team. Eliot lounging back in the dark chair, wearing a dark blue buttoned down shirt with the cuffs rolled up to his elbows, dark jeans and his normal choice of brown boots. Sophie in her casual wear which consisted of skinny jeans and knee high boots, a purple blouse underneath a black vest. Parker wearing the usual black skinny jeans with her favored converse shoes and a white tank top. Hardison had his usual gray shirt with comfortable jeans, not to mention a black beanie cap over his shortly cropped hair.

"Okay, here we have a Mrs. Williams, a widow and.." Hardison glanced around after hearing the sound a ringtone going off. Eliot checking his pockets as well as the rest of the team until they all spotted Nate staring blankly at his phone.

"Nate?" Sophie's face turned to concern, placing her coffee cup down as she moved to stand.

"Wait.. I have to take this." Nate paused before putting the phone up to his ear. "Hello-" Instantly his head jerked to the side as a loud noise emanated from the speaker. "Skye, Skye, calm down." Nate shook his head as he tried to make sense of what the woman on the other end was saying.

"They killed Lisa!"

Nate froze as the sentence was formed and the shock took over him. He glanced at his team, all of them on the edge of their seats as if ready to pounce into action. He turned away, staring at the blank televisions in front of him. "Where are you." He felt himself moving, ignoring the jacket as he snatched for his keys.

"Nate where are you-!" Eliot snapped as he and the others jumped out of their seats to follow him out the door.

The group managed to find him just before getting into his car and noticed him now off the phone, but muttering something.

"Hey what's going on?" Parker asked, hopping into the back seat, placing herself between Hardison and Eliot. Sophie sat up front with a stunned Nate.

"Going to the hospital." Nate swallowed hard before backing out of the parking lot and sped out onto the surface streets of Boston.

"Why? You don't like hospitals." Hardison tilted his head to get a good look at Nate.

"It's not for myself, and plus. There's a good chance I don't have to go inside." Nate shrugged as he steered them easily around the city.

At the speed they were going, it didn't take long for them to reach the city hospital. Throughout the ride though, Nate was silent. He didn't give any indication to the rest of the team as to why he was going to the hospital. The inside of the car was silent, yet he still heard the cry of the woman on the phone. It haunted him all the way to the city hospital, the image of the woman in tears popped into his head and it nearly killed him to see her like that again. He managed not to wreck the car before pulling into the parking lot.

"Is it Maggie?" Sophie asked hesitantly as Nate found a parking spot.

"No." Nate quickly turned the car off and immediately stepped out of the black vehicle with no hesitation to nearing the hospital.

"Then who is it?" Eliot questioned as he came up beside Nate in his quick stride.

"You'll see." Nate's eyes were focused on the hospital doors as they neared. He stopped in his tracks when he saw a woman push through those doors. Black hair swinging from side to side as she ran the other half way to them. Wearing a midnight blue tank top, worn out jeans and he even noticed a par of boots similar to Eliots'. His mind kicked into overdrive and he didn't let her finish running the other half as he moved up to her quickly. Blue eyes rimmed with tears as she collapsed against him. "Easy." He whispered.

"I haven't seen you in five years and this is the reunion I get." Nate muttered, clenching the girl in his embrace.

"Lo siento." She whispered. She pulled away, wiping away the tears of mourning from her pale blue eyes.

"No, no, it's alright." Nate assured, shaking his head at her apology.

"Nate?" Sophie asked, her voice hesitant as she didn't want to barge in on them.

Nate's head jerked up, remembering that his team was behind him. "Ah, oh, sorry." He turned around, one arm wrapped around the woman's shoulders. "Everyone, this is Skye."

"I did not know you would bring visitors. Did I call at a bad time?" Skye asked, her voice having a heavy Spanish accent.

"No! No, you didn't." Nate turned to look at Skye. Tears had stopped falling but the redness around her eyes were still vivid.

"Actually, we were in the middle of a meeting-"

"Parker!" Eliot snapped, cutting the blonde off from continuing her sentence.

"Oh. I'm sorry, thank you for coming Nathon." Skye pulled out of Nate's embrace, letting his arm fall to his side.

"No, sweetie." Sophie instantly came up to Skye. "Whatever happened here is probably a little bit more important than a little meeting."

"Skye.." Nate looked at her. "Who did-" He stopped and noticed the faint bruising on her cheek. His eyes narrowed when she took a step back, letting her hair fall forward to cover the abusive marking.

"It is nothing. I.." Skye inhaled deeply to calm her overwhelming nerves. " I have to go finish filling out paper work." She closed her eyes, trying hard to hide the trembling.

"Shouldn't you have done that before-"

"I know you hate hospitals and I wouldn't want you to be in the same state as you were when Sam died." Skye cut Nate off quickly. "So I came out here when I saw you. I'm almost done."

"Is there anything I can get you? Coffee?" Nate's voice trailed off, taking notice of her physical state.

"How about the largest bottle of Bruador you can find, then we'll talk." Skye breathed before turning around on her heel and walked back.

Nate watched Skye disappear through the hospital doors. He had taken noticed that she placed a cover over her when she saw that he wasn't alone. He knew very well that if he was alone, she would still be in tears. He glanced over at Sophie when he felt her hand gently touch his arm. "I'm gonna go find her a Bruador." He said turning around.

"No, man. I'll go, you look like you need to stay here." Eliot piped in, the look he gave Nate warned the older man to not argue. "Come on." He tapped Hardison and the two walked off towards the nearest liquor store.

"Who is she, Nate?" Parker asked as she came up beside the mastermind.

"An old friend. Went to school together until we went our separate ways." Nate shrugged, not giving any more information out than needed until Skye was okay with him telling the crew who she is. He shook his head, regretting what he was about to do, but headed towards the hospital.

Skye closed her eyes one last time as she filled out the rest of the paperwork. However, her eyes opened to look at whoever sat next to her. "I thought you hate hospitals."

"I do. But that doesn't stop me from entering one." Nate said softly, placing a hand at her back. "Have you called-"

"They're dead too. I tried contacting you, but you were on a business trip somewhere over in Europe." Sky interrupted, a habit she hasn't been able to stop even after five years. "They died two years ago." Skye leaned back in her seat, her head bowed. "I've lost everyone. I failed my job, I was suppose to protect her." She covered her face with her hands, doubling over as she mourned the loss of her younger sister.

Nate sat speechless, unknowing what to say to comfort her. He instead tried with actions as he wrapped his arm around her shoulders, letting her cry against his. Memories of their past went through him as he gazed around the hospital. Watching Skye and Lisa grow up with an acceptance towards each other that most siblings rarely have. He remembered Skye taking the vow to watch over Lisa when he saw her standing with black and blue bruises over her frame. However, as expected, Lisa was behind Skye with not even a scratch on her.

"What happened?" He asked quietly, and shifted when she removed herself from his embrace.

"Where's my Brador?" Skye looked at him with tears in her eyes, making her pale, bright blue eyes stand out more.

"On it's way." Nate assured.


	2. Chapter 2

Nate rubbed his temples with his forefingers, trying to be the stronger one out of both him and Skye. After Skye finished with the paperwork, he took her back to his place in which he left the car at the hospital. He watched her silently sitting on his couch, admiring the technology Hardison had set up. His attention turned to the door when Eliot and the other rudely barged in.

"What the hell man? Couldn't wait?" Eliot snapped, freezing when Nate pointed to Skye sitting cross legged on the arm of the chair he normally sits in.

"Hi." Skye's voice was weak as she forced a welcoming smile. She glanced at the others before looking over at Nate.

"I had to get her out of there." Nate shrugged as he walked over to Skye and poked her arm, hoping to throw her off balance but only got a sharp glare from her. "You have some explaining to do Ms. Jenson." Nate arched and eyebrow. "Starting with that bruise."

Skye rolled her eyes as she pulled one leg free and started untying her boot. "A client got greedy. He didn't like the 'no' I gave him." She said sharply and saw the raised eyebrow and she sighed. "Of course he left with a broken rib, bruised the others and I broke both of his hands. He is now banned from where I work."

"Nothing less from you." Nate nodded, taking notice of the others stopping in their tracks to walk over to the couch.

"What do you do for a living that has you dealing that kind of damage to a human being?" Hardison asked as he found himself a spot on the couch next to Parker.

"You wouldn't believe me. Next." Skye said, feeling a bit of ease since all the questions took her mind off of her sister's death.

"Are you a Hitter like Eliot?" Parker asked curiously, glancing at Eliot who leaned against the couch behind her and Hardison.

Skye was silent, contemplating on how to answer the blonde's question. "Was." Skye looked at Nate. "I'm now an honest citizen. I plan to keep it that way. I've done a few things to clean my record." She saw his surprise and smiled. "It was fun playing tag in Germany, Nathon. Lisa enjoyed it. Brought back memories." She gave him a one shoulder shrug.

"What are you doing for a living now? Does it have anything to do with Lisa's death?" Nate asked, now standing before all of them and he almost felt like Skye could easily fall into their crew.

"Exotic dancing. Eliot, I'm offended you don't recognize me. I could live off of what he pays me." Skye turned to look at Eliot. "Luna? Over at Veiled Sins?" She saw his jaw loosen from the tense situation.

"You're a stripper?" Sophie asked, completely shocked.

Skye laughed. "Who would've thought upside down pole dancing in front of different mafia mobs, CEO's could be profitable." Her eyes turned to Nate, smiling weakly. "I stopped being a thief several months ago." She looked down at the floor. "My job didn't cause Lisa to be killed. She brought that up on herself." She growled, her hands turning into tight fists. She looked up to find Eliot standing beside her, holding a large bottle of Bruadar and a glass filled with it.

"Sorry I didn't recognize you. Though I thought you looked familiar." Eliot whispered, handing her the glass filled whiskey. "I'm sorry about your sister." He added but she brushed the sympathy aside with a wave of her hand.

"What did Lisa do for a living?" Nate asked, watching Skye carefully.

"She was an accountant for a medical facility called Quarantine. Brutal, I know. They specialize in finding cures to deadly to very deadly diseases. Cancer, HIV, Aids, Bubonic Plague, just to name a few." Skye took a sip of the whiskey, closing her eyes. "She found some irregular funding taking place." She shrugged as she took another swig.

Nate nodded, looking over at Eliot and the rest of the gang. He knew he'd be stepping on thin ice with this next question. He took a breath. "How did you know she was dead? Phone call, police?" He saw her freeze and knew very well how Skye found her sister.

"Lisa was suppose to pick me up from the airport this morning. I called several times but no answer. Figured she was spending the night at the office again and over slept.." Skye closed her eyes, taking in the comfort from whoever placed their hand on her back. "I took a cab home and a part of me knew something was off. The door was forced open and the place was trashed. I was teaching Lisa how to stand up for her own, but she wasn't even half of what I could do." She bit her lip before taking another drink before motioning Eliot for more. "I found her in my room on the floor. Several stabbing wounds and a slit throat." She swallowed hard, opening her eyes.

"Why was she in your room?" Nate asked quietly, pausing in mid-step when he saw the look in her eyes. It was the same look Eliot got except he didn't kill people.

"Cause that's where my knives are." Skye took a long drink, feeling the alcohol warm her down to her toes. When she was done, she looked at Nate darkly. "A little bird told me you take these kind of cases. Don't, cause I want to be the one snapping their necks."

Nate took a deep breath. "Are you staying with anyone? Coworker?" He combed his fingers through his hair.

"No."

"You working?"

"No. My boss forced me to take a vacation even after I just came back from one." Skye tilted her head, understanding where this was going. "I'll be staying at home."

"No." It was Nate's turn to say it as he gave her a warning glare. "You'll be here until we figure out who killed your sister."

"I can handle-"

"I know very well you can handle yourself. I've seen it and I see it now." Nate snapped and pulled back when he saw tears in her eyes. "Skye." He said softly, watching her putting her boots back on.

"I'll go grab my luggage at the house then." Skye ignored Eliot beside her and the murmur from the rest of the people.

"I'll go with her." Eliot offered, following Skye out the door.

Nate nodded, moving over to the chair Skye was perched on. "Hardison."

"On it, boss." Hardison lifted the laptop onto his lap.

Nate closed his eyes, leaning his head back. He felt himself dozing, listening to Parker talk to Hardison and Sophie being oddly quiet. Yet behind closed eyelids, he watched Skye and Lisa having their sisterly bond before him. He remembered when he first met Skye, her mother was familar with the Irish mob and knew Jimmy Ford. If he had to guess, Skye was the same age Eliot. The thought made him almost laugh, she could take Parker under her wing like she did with Lisa..

"Nate?"

"Hm?" Nate opened his eyes at Sophie's voice, seeing the familiar concern in her eyes, seeing the unasked question in them. "I'm fine, Soph." He assured her.

"I don't believe you." Sophie stated firmly, seeing the despair he tried to hard to hide from the rest of the world. She saw the unshed tears brimming in his gray eyes.

Nate looked away, standing up abruptly before stalking out of the room, slamming the door behind him. He leaned against the wall, sinking down to the floor as he let the tears fall. He covered his face with his hands and tried to block the smiling faces of the women he considered his unborn sisters. He slumped when he felt Sophie's arms fall around him. "God I'm going to murder whoever did this to her."


	3. Chapter 3

Skye stared up at the pale white ceiling of Eliot's living room. Somehow, she lost the argument with Nate of where she was staying. First at Nate's apartment but somehow had this grand idea to stay with the hitter. She closed her eyes, resting comfortably on his long couch. She felt exhausted and as much as her body and mind knew it, she didn't like it.

Her mind wandered to the previous events that day. Finding her sister's body on her bedroom floor. Meeting Nate at the hospital then taken to his condo above McRory's. She shouldn't have been surprised that he lived there. Then she was forced to stay with Eliot, he even didn't let her take a vehicle. She frowned with closed eyes. Staying with Eliot after he gave her the five minute tour, she felt nostalgic. It reminded her of her father's home estate in Southern Carolina.

She tensed when she heard the soft sound of footsteps. "Hey." She heard Eliot's gruff voice break the silence she was hating.

"Hey." Skye replied, mentally cursing herself at how she sounded helpless. She wrinkled her nose, catching the whiff of pasta off of him. "Italian?"

Eliot chuckled, "Yeah. Lasagna." He sat down on the arm of the couch, watching her with curiosity. He held back a laugh, disguising it as a cough when he heard the familiar stomach growl. "I made enough for two of us."

Skye couldn't help but smile and opened her eyes when she heard the sound of fading footsteps. Sitting up, she combed her fingers through her windblown hair. "It can't be dinner." Her voice trailed as she looked at the clock. She hadn't realize the time had gone by fast. She swore she was just at her house minutes ago.

"Come on before it gets cold or I decide to eat the whole thing." Eliot warned and listened to the patter of bare feet on the hard wood floor.

"Sorry." Skye sat down in the chair Eliot gently kicked open with his foot. She looked at the lasagna in the middle of the table before looking over at Eliot sitting next to her. "So, when are you gonna start staring at me with clothes on?" She arched an eyebrow while piling on the food, yet laughing when he choked.

"I do look at you like you're clothed." He defended after clearing up his lungs from his startled reaction to her question.

"Riight. Bar, thong and a garter don't count as being clothed, Eliot." Skye looked at him out of the corner of her before taking a bite. Her eyes closed as the flavors exploded onto her taste buds. She opened her eyes as the warm feeling of ecstasy faded. She saw his attention on her and arched an eyebrow.

"So?" He asked before taking a bite of his own food.

"So, what?" She tilted her head, unsure if he was talking about staring at her unclothed or about the food.

"Do you like it?" He motioned to the lasagna on her plate.

"Oh." Skye looked at her plate before looking at him with a straight face, her pale eyes staring into his blue eyes. "It's terrible. You have any garlic bread that I can rinse my mouth out with?" She stood to get a glass of water, pausing at his glare and saw she hurt his ego. A grin broke out when he turned away from her, silent. She turned to him, leaning forward into his ear. "It was ecstasy. May I have the recipe?" She smiled when he turned his head to look at her. "Can't take a joke, can you cowboy?" She straightened up, the smile still lingering on her lips when he turned fully to look at her.

"You, darlin', don't get any garlic bread." Eliot pointed to her just before the timer on the oven went off. He stood up after she moved away from the oven, though took a glance at her as she got herself a glass of water.

"Yes you do. You forgot my Bruadar at Nate's place." Skye accused as she sat back down in her seat, watching Eliot move. She took in his casual look while he busied himself at the stove. The blue button down was gone, leaving him with a blank racerback tank top and a blue bandanna in his hair. She smiled lightly, remembering the few times they crossed paths at her work place.

"I.. That.." Eliot stuttered, feeling angered with himself yet calmly brought over the plate with garlic bread.

Skye laughed, placing a hand on his forearm. "Relax, cowboy. I'm teasing." She pulled back only to take a piece of bread off of the plate. She crossed one leg over the other, her foot accidently brushing against his leg.

"You're good at that." Eliot pointed out bumping his knee against her foot.

"Course, part of the job description." Skye shrugged as she took another bite of lasagna. "Dulce cielo." She closed her eyes before looking at him.

"Sweet heaven, huh?" Eliot asked, translating her spanish words. He enjoyed her compliment and watched her eat as he did the same.

After awhile, the two strangers got used to each other company from playfully bantering over dinner. Skye offered to clean up afterwards, but it turned into a statement when Eliot declined her offer. The two argued over if Skye will help with the cleaning and turned to a threat with Skye stabbing Eliot with her fork. Eliot finally threw his hands up in the air. "Alright alright. I'm too full to argue anymore." He laughed. Normally he would have argued even when they started to clean but he couldn't help himself when she pouted at him.

"You feed me, let me into your home. The least I can do is help clean." Skye pointed at him with her fork as she stood up. She shook her head as she took his plate, piling it up onto hers before walking towards the sink.

Eliot sighed as he grabbed several containers for the bread and lasagna. "You gonna be alright tonight?" He asked, glancing over at her at the sink. He walked over to her, hearing her silence and bringing the rest of the dishes over. "Skye?"

"Huh?" Skye's head jerked up at the sound of Eliot's voice. "Oh, yeah. I'll be fine." She waved her hand in dismissal. She looked away from him, putting her hands into the warm, bubbly water to continue washing the dishes.

Eliot arched an eyebrow before looking at the dishwasher. "The dishwasher is empty." He stated, opening the dishwasher.

"Oh." Skye's brows furrowed before shrugging. "I'll finish washing these then. I'll put the rest in the dishwasher." She watched Eliot nod before walking away from her.

"I'm gonna go take a shower." Eliot glanced at Skye to see if she heard and his shoulders slumped in relaxation when she waved her hand at him.

Skye sighed as she finished up rinsing the two plates and silverware before loading up the rest into the dishwasher. She was tired, more than she normally was. Emotionally drained, she dragged her feet into the spare room Eliot let her sleep in. Glancing around the room, she nodded again in approval before she began unloading her luggage and marching into the small bathroom that had a shower instead of a bathtub. Skye pulled into her normal routine of flossing, brushing, and then rinsing her mouth. She put on her nightly attire which were satin set of silver camisole and loose, mini shorts. She listened to the shower turn off while brushing her hair and she came out of her borrowed room to see Eliot glancing around with a towel in his hand, drying his hair and wearing midnight blue pajama pants.

"Skye?" Eliot called, spinning around when he heard a noise behind him. He took in her look and found it did more to him than seeing her in her usual outfit at Veiled Sins. "Hey, you going to bed?"

Skye nodded as she looked down at the floor. "Yeah. You?" She approved of what she saw as much as she did when she saw his strong back.

Eliot nodded. "Alright, I'll be up for a few hours. Don't hesitate to come get me if you need anything." He said trying to disguise his look over. Her strong, lean legs bringing up to the curve of her hips and torso.

Skye nodded. "Alright." She bit down on her lower lip before giving him a short salute. "Good night, Cowboy." She turned her back on him, walking back into her room and collapsed onto her bed.

"Night, Skye." Eliot said yet quizically stared after her, finding it odd against his lips.


	4. Chapter 4

Eliot stirred in his sleep, hearing something moving about in his room. He cracked open an eyelid to glance at the time only to see it was two in the morning. He stiffened when he felt a hand on his wrist and automatically grabbed whoever touched him yet it earned him both a cry and a jerk as whoever immediately pulled away. He opened his eyes, recognizing the voice and saw Skye kneeling at the corner of his bed. "Skye?"

He saw her hair tousled from restless sleep and pain etched into her beautiful features. He heard her uneven breathing which told him she has been crying. He loosened his tight grip on her wrist but still held on. "C'mhere." He said softly, pulling her towards him as he sat up. "It's okay." He whispered as she moved towards him and her head leaning against his chest. He felt her tears on her cheeks and prayed he didn't cause any of them when they startled each other.

Skye closed her eyes, trying to stop the tears from coming but despair had overwhelmed her and caused her nightmares. The image of Lisa laying on her floor burned into her memory and the loss of a sibling tore at her heart. She trembled in Eliot's tight embrace, feeling the comfort he tried giving her. She found herself falling asleep as the tears still ran and the last thing she fully remembered was Eliot pulling the overs over both of them.

"I've got to get me one of these." Skye said, wrapping her arms around Eliot's waist after she climbed onto the motorcycle. She listened to Eliot chuckle even after he started the engine. She felt her adrenaline rush through her and laughed lightly as Eliot pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Nate's condo. She was glad when Eliot pulled his hair back into a ponytail since she now didn't have to worry about his hair in her face. Her mind went to him and thought of that morning waking up.

Skye's head was nestled comfortably on Eliot's chest, her left arm draped over his stomach, and her left leg hooked around his. She remembered listening to his heartbeat until he took notice that she was awake. She recalled that he told her he was up for several hours yet he didn't bother to move afraid he might disrupt her sleeping. She closed her eyes, listening intently before sitting up and heading towards her borrowed room.

"Hey, you alright back there?" Eliot asked, stopping slowly as they came up to a stop light. He felt her arms tighten around him for a second before he spoke to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Skye nodded, resting her chin on his shoulder, gazing at the city from a different perspective. "I think I know why dogs like sticking their heads out the car window now." She laughed, taking her mind off of what happened the previous night and this morning.

"Ha, yeah." Eliot agreed, relaxing when she loosened her grip and got comfortable behind him. He smirked, taking a liking and thought he could get used to her being there. He glanced at her as she lifted her chin off of his shoulder.

"I could get used to this." Skye caught his eye before giving him a smile. Smiling was part of her profession but she felt like she could truly smile with him. She had noticed that when she first met him, sitting casually at the front of her stage as she performed.

"Get used to sitting there?" Eliot asked before he moved the motorcycle ahead.

Skye shrugged. "That, but someone else making me food. I could just sit back and relax." She pressed her cheek against his shoulder and let her eyes wander over the city that flew by. She closed her eyes, feeling Eliot's chuckle more than she heard it. She enjoyed the wind pushing through her, lifting her braid a few times when he would turn, the warmth she felt through her cropped, leather bomber jacket. It didn't last long as she felt the wind turn into a light breeze as Eliot slowed the bike into a parking lot.

"Alright, we're here." Eliot glanced at Skye as she released him, he took her in one last time when she got off. A low v-cut, white shirt underneath her black jacket. Her jeans faded and tucked into knee high boots that had barely a heel on it.

Skye turned to look at Eliot, feeling his eyes on her and saw that he was looking at her boots. "Easy maneuvering. I have the high heeled ones at home." She rolled her eyes as she headed towards the stairs outside of McRory's that lead up to Nate's condo. "Come on, Cowboy."

Eliot shook his head. "I'm gonna get killed one day." He muttered, shoving the keys into his jacket before following her.

"They're coming!" Parker announced, jumping over the back of the couch and landed next to Hardison.

"Is that really necessary?" Hardison looked at the blonde, taking in her nervous excitement.

"What?" Parker gave him a quizzical look before looking at Nate. "You think they did anything?" She asked, leaning towards Hardison in a hushed tone.

Nate stared at Parker, his brows furrowed in confusion. "What?" He shook his head, looking over at Sophie who was probably wondering the same thing since Eliot had a habit of flirting. Nate shook his head, pacing in front of the six television screens. "She's not like that."

"Not like what?" Skye stepped through the doorway with Eliot behind her. She noticed she had startled Nate and arched a dark, slim eyebrow.

"Hm?" Nate stared at her, watching her open his refrigerator. "What are you?" He straightened when she turned to look at him, holding the Bruadar from yesterday.

"I'm not like what?" Skye emphasized her words as she motioned her hands towards herself.

"Hey I have those same boots." Sophie spotted the black boots Skye wore. She stood up from her chair, showing Skye the same boots she, herself, wore as well.

Skye nodded in approval. "They're comfy aren't they?" She tilted her head slightly. "Where'd you get them?"

Sophie smiled. "Paris. And they are comfy."

Skye's eyes widened. "I got these in Paris too." She was startled when Nate cleared his voice.

"Ladies?" He asked watching the two women bond before him.

"Sorry." Skye shrugged but glanced over at Eliot who was chuckling.

Nate sighed and shook his head slightly. "Hardison." He said before pulling up the stood he normally sat on.

Skye looked around as Sophie walked over, sitting next to Parker so Eliot could have his chair. She looked at the screens, seeing the CEO of Quarantine pop up with his portfolio. Shrugging out of her jacket, letting it drape on one of the chairs in the kitchen as she placed her whiskey on the table before walking over to the screen. "Lance Jordanson. CEO of Quarantine and self made millionare from preparing a building where scientists could practice there work to find cures for deadly diseases. Did you know they just found a cure for lung cancer? Incredible. What?" She snapped, finding everyone staring at her and Hardison having an offended look on his face. "You pick up a few things here and there."

"You pick up a lot of things." Hardison looked back at the screens, feeling a sense of Deja vu.

"I work at a strip joint. Go figure." Skye shrugged as she perched herself on the arm of Eliot's chair. She looked at Nate and frowned. "Why are you guys doing a background check on Jordanson?"

"We think he's the one who arranged to have Lisa murdered."


	5. Chapter 5

Skye sat silently, staring at Nate intently before nodding. "A little bird told me that you became some sort of Robin Hood."

"You can talk to animals?" Parker piped in. She looked at everyone who was staring at her. "What? Can't we use that to our advantage?"

Skye watched Parker, and as adorable as the blonde was, she figured there was something wrong with her. She leaned close to Eliot. "Is she alright? In the head?"

"Parker, Skye doesn't talk to animals. It was a figure of speech." Nate clarified to put the thief's mind at ease. He looked at Skye and watched her straighten immediately. "Anything else you want to share with the class, Skye?"

Skye shrugged. "Lance bought the best scientists he could find, so all the workers are on his payroll. Quarantine itself has about thirty floors. The last three floors are all offices. Apparently has one of the best and newest security installments. First floor is the usual lobby, front desk and so forth." Skye stood up to walk towards the screens. "Security officers are not your donut eating idiots. Ex M.P's." She took a step back as a layout of the building came up onto the screen.

"There's a basement beneath the lobby and that's all kitchen staff." Skye added, glancing over at Nate.

"You sure know a lot about the building and work forces." Sophie said, leaning back.

"My sister worked here. I took my time on knowing everything about this company to see if it was safe for her." Skye's voice was soft but her posture tensed.

"You mentioned Lisa found some irregular funding." Eliot's voice pulled her out of her thoughts.

"Yeah. She didn't say much about the finances. She did mention it to Lance but he told her not to worry about it." Skye furrowed her brows as she thought of what Lisa had told her. "She told me not to worry and that this wasn't the first time an accountant found something odd with the finances."

"Hardison, you want to bring up any bank statements from Quarantine or would you have to be in the building?" Nate asked, keeping an eye on Skye as she stared at the screens in fury.

"I would have to be in the building to get any of those files." Hardison sighed with a one shoulder shrug. "I tried earlier but one wrong move and I could set off the alarms. Their security is basically unhackable."

"Told you." Skye back away from the screens, her eyes boring into the man up on the screen. She looked at Hardison who was giving her a glare. "What? I told you they have the best and newest security features." She defended herself.

"Hey!" Nate snapped, standing up from his stool. He watched Skye walk back over to Eliot and perched herself up on the arm of the chair. He looked at every single one of his team mates. "Sophie and Skye, I want you two to find out anything else about Mr. Jordanson. Hardison, can you check his schedule?" He looked at the hacker and watched a smile.

"Mr. Jordanson has scheduled an event at Veiled Sins tomorrow at ten o'clock p.m." Hardison looked up from his laptop.

Nate smiled as his eyes turned to Skye. "How good is your persuasion?"

Skye arched an eyebrow. "Hasn't changed, except it got better over the years."

Nate nodded. "Good. Eliot, Sophie and I will be joining Skye tomorrow night. Parker and Hardison, you'll be going on a little invasion at Quarantine."

Sophie looked almost apalled, looking between Skye and Nate. "You don't suggest I.."

Skye laughed. "Sophie, you leave the entertaining to me. Eliot, I'll call up my boss. I think she mentioned she wanted a bit more security after that little incident." She looked from Sophie to Eliot who I noticed will be smiling. "Security watch, they don't participate." She cleared up his mind as she slid off the arm of the chair and pulled her phone out.

"Alright. Sophie, come with me. We need to discuss what business plan we're gonna do. Figured we can grab the kids lunch too." Nate shrugged as he walked over to the door while Skye was on her phone. He heard Sophie behind him. "How does oriental sound?"

"Sounds good." Sophie walked through the doorway as Nate held the door open for her. As the door closed behind them, she slipped her hand into his. "I didn't think you were a strip club type."

"I'm not. Just extra security for Skye."

"Hey, you think there's any pictures of her up on the internet?" Parker asked, her voice in a hushed tone.

"Way ahead of you." Hardison laughed as he went to the Veiled Sins website and found a picture of Skye on the front page. "Whoa." He clicked on the gallery link and clicked on Skye's stage name 'Luna', which brought him to a professional photo shoot of her in barely in any clothing and in different positions.

"Watcha guys-" Eliot paused as he saw what Hardison and Parker were looking at.

"I know strip joints don't look much but I doubt they had enough money to get a professional photographer to do any of these photo's." Hardison stared at a photo where Skye was easily hanging upside down on a pole. He clicked onto another photo that was a close up of her face. The smokey eyes brought out her eyes like a bright blue crystal and the make up artist added a bit of a curly design down from the edge of Skye's eye to her cheek. "She's hot man."

"Hey guys- Oh, that photo shoot was fun." Skye looked over their shoulders and let out a laugh when she startled the three of them. "Easy, I don't care if you look at them." She looked at each of them before letting her eyes on Eliot's. A small smirk played upon her lips. "Told you, you look at me as if I'm not wearing any clothes."

"You can tell how a man looks at you?" Parker asked looking at Skye with wonder.

"Men have a certain look about them. Eliot here, hiding behind is dark look, I can see right through it. They say the eyes are the window to a person's soul." Skye frowned slightly when Eliot got up and walked away from them.

"With that saying, they mean you can see into their past." Hardison tilted his head.

"I can't see into his past. I can see the emotion everyone tries to hide from the world." Skye clarified before walked towards Eliot who was standing in the kitchen, eyeing the Bruadar on the table. She walked up to him, bumping her hip against his as she walked up beside him. "Eliot."

"Sophie can't even see through this cover and she's reads people for a living." Eliot snapped quietly as to not bring attention to himself.

Skye moved in front of him where she can see Hardison and Parker looking at them. She shook her head and watched the two go back to their own business at Hardison's computer. Skye looked up at Eliot and tilted her head at his frown. "I know nothing about you. I can see when someone is in pain, angry, lustful." Her voice trailed off. "I can see the emotion we all try to hide so no one will worry. Lisa hated that I could do it, but it saved her life several times." She tried to make eye contact with him. She lifted her hand and rubbed her forefinger between his brows. "You'll get permanent wrinkles if you keep frowning." She whispered, freezing when he grabbed her hand but relaxed when she saw his faint smile.

"Who told you that?" Eliot asked quietly, keeping eye contact with her as he felt her slim fingers through his callused hands.

"My dad. I had a bad day at school and he did the same thing to me." Skye said breaking eye contact to look at his hand that held hers gently. "I guess the 'no touching' rule doesn't apply here."

Eliot chuckled. "No. Sorry, darlin." He watched a slim eyebrow raise in amusement when he raised her hand up to his lips.

"Damn."


	6. Chapter 6

"Ok, so let me get this straight." Skye looked up from her food Nate had bought for everyone. She looked at Nate and everyone. "I don't pick pocket him. I just let him spill his guts to me." She arched an eyebrow before clicking her chopsticks together.

"Basically. Sophie and I will be making a business arrangement with him. Hardison and Parker will be in his office to see what they can find and Eliot." Nate tilted his head as he stared at Eliot.

"Eliot will be with me. Cat said he'll be part of security and he'll be stationed in my room when I have a client." Skye took a bite before seeing Nate's confusion. "Some strip clubs have separate rooms where a man can choose any one of the dancers to perform solo for him and him only. There are camera's in there, but the guards didn't get here fast enough. Cat wants to have a guard in all the girl's room when it's in use. Eliot will be with me if, IF, Jordanson wants me to do a performance for him. Otherwise it's like any other strip club, there's the main stage that branches off into smaller stages where more than one girl can perform." Skye rolled her eyes. "You act like you haven't been to a strip club before."

"I haven't." Nate shrugged, stopping in mid-bite to find his whole crew looking at him. "What?"

"You've never been to a strip club." Hardison stared at Nate as if he never met the mastermind.

"I'm not surprised." Skye rolled her eyes before adjusting the plate on her legs, keeping her spot on the arm of Eliot's chair, only Eliot wasn't sitting in it. "Anyways, so don't you guys do a scouting before infiltrating the building?"

"Well since you basically pointed out where everything is, Parker and I are going in as kitchen staff. Kitchen staff aren't aloud in any of the areas except the basement and the offices. Right?" Hardison asked, forking up a orange chicken covered in white rice.

"Yep. What about the camera's? There are camera's in the elevator." Skye picked up a broccoli and pointed it at him before taking a bite.

Hardison pulled out his handy-dandy phone. "See this? I can do a fifteen minute loop on the camera so they don't see us."

Skye didn't look fazed, looking at Nate to see if it's true. She nodded slightly when he gave her nod for clarification. "Alright."

"Hey." Eliot held up a glass of Bruadar to Skye, pushing her legs out of the way so he could sit.

"Thanks." Skye paused staring at the drink and looking at her food filled with oriental pieces. _First time for everything._ She thought before taking a drink of the Scottish whiskey. She looked down at Eliot, holding the glass up. "Don't forget it."

Eliot sighed. "Yes, ma'am." He took a bite of his Kung pao chicken, looking up to see everyone stare at him. "What?"

"How was it last night?" Sophie asked, getting comfortable next to an edgy Parker. She looked at Skye who was looking at Eliot before shrugging.

"It was alright. I got fed." Skye shrugged before kicking Eliot's knee when he grumbled something under his breath. "Shut. Up." She growled under her breath.

"You slept together." Parker stated yet it was also a question, but it looked like she hit the mark when Skye and Eliot froze.

Nate's eyes narrowed deathly in Eliot's direction. "You what?" He looked at Skye but her face was blank unless otherwise. He couldn't read either of their faces.

Skye sighed. "That's all that happened. We slept. Nothing else happened." Skye looked at Nate. "Nothing else."

"You want to explain how you guys ended up sleeping together?" Nate asked and was startled when Skye gave him the deadly glare.

"It's really none of your business how I end up in someone's bed." Skye snapped before getting up and walking towards the kitchen table, excluding herself from everyone else.

Eliot watched her leave before feeling Nate's eyes on him. "She was crying, man." Eliot said defensively before getting up and going to the table where Skye sat.

"Nate, can I talk to you. Privately." Sophie came up to Nate, her plate of food on the coffee table.

"Soph, come on." Nate grumbled but winced at the look she gave him. "I didn't do anything."

"Now." Sophie tilted her head only the slightest as she spun on her heel, heading towards the door that led out of the condo.

Nate obediently followed her out, taking several glances from the group at the couch to Skye talking quietly with Eliot. He reached in front of Sophi, opening the door for her before following her out and letting the door shut behind him. "Now Sophie-"

"You're doing it again." Sophie turned to look at him, her hands placed on her hips. She arched an eyebrow when she saw his confusion. "You're doing that over protective thing, Nate."

Nate leaned against the wall. "I didn't know it was a bad thing."

"It's not but you're overdoing it. You're not her father, let him do it." Sophie moved in front of him before seeing the pain in his eyes.

"She doesn't have a father, Soph. She doesn't even have a mother to scold her." Nate said quietly, looking away from the woman. "She hasn't had a parent in two years." He added, pushing his hand through his hair. "When I met Skye, she and Lisa gave me this image of an older brother. It's instinctive to be protective over her." Nate finally looked at Sophie, seeing her understanding then her downcast eyes. "Don't pity her. She'll hate you for it." He said lifting her chin so she would look at him.

"She lost the only family she had left." Sophie watched Nate before walking into his embrace.

"She'll survive."

"He hasn't changed." Skye mused as she picked up a chunk of beef, gazing at it thoughtfully before popping it into her mouth. She looked over at Eliot after seeing him shrug. "Has he changed from what you've known him?"

"Well when I met him, he was a drunk. Then he became sober, then became a drunk again." Eliot sighed as he watched her use her chopsticks with such ease, it made him a bit envious. He figured he'd try changing the subject, hopefully to bring up her mood. "So when did you start fighting?"

Skye glanced at Eliot before smiling. "I was eight when my parents put me in a Karate club, about the same age when I started gymnastics. As I got older, my interests broadened." She eyed him curiously, pushing her mostly empty plate away. "Have any hobbies?" She watched him raise his brows. "Besides beating the crap out of people."

Eliot shrugged. "I do little things here and there." He laughed when she saw her unfazed expression. It was one of those 'I don't believe you' looks. He leaned back in his chair, folding his arms over his chest before giving her a shrug. "I like cooking. I fiddle with the guitar and I guess you can say I'm good at singing. I have my own garden." As he rattled on, he saw the interest in her eyes and found it a bit odd how she found his hobbies interesting. "You?"

"Ahh, well." Skye leaned forward, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. "Reading. I-" She looked at him and smiled. "Well that's not a hobby, more of a trick up my sleeve. I like to go running a lot. Apparently I can sing, which I don't agree at all." She shrugged. "My hobbies run thin."

Eliot nodded before leaning forward. "What's that trick up your sleeve?"

Skye laughed as she stood up, gathering her plate. "Wouldn't you like to know, Cowboy." She ruffled his hair as she said that and took his empty plate. Skye couldn't help but smile at his instant grumble when she messed with his hair, but it was one of those urges she couldn't help. Not everyday you came across a guy with a gruff voice and a all bite no bark attitude pull off the long hair. Listening to footsteps and his voice a bit fainter as he asked if Hardison and Parker were done with eating. Taking a quick glance over her shoulder, she watched him walk over before turning her attention back to dishes. She felt his presence next to her yet let out a yelp when he bumped his hip against hers, which sent her stumbling aside.

"Payback." Eliot laughed, watching Skye catch her footing and sending him a glare before shoving at his arm which made him laugh a bit harder cause she barely moved him. He gently pushed her aside which he swore if she were a cartoon, steam would be fuming from her ears.

"Move!" Skye snapped as she gave him a one shoulder shove, except she used her body weight to move him. "Eliot." She whined and took a step back away when he flicked water in her direction. "Oh no you didn't do that."

"You know, I don't think I've ever seen Eliot smile like that." Parker watched Skye and Eliot banter and flick water at each over the back of the couch with Hardison.

"I think it's good for both of them. She just lost her sister yesterday and mister private over there." Hardison shrugged before freezing along with the rest of the team when the door opened, letting in Nate and Sophie.

Nate took one look around before staring at Skye and Eliot, both had frozen in place, looking at him as if deciding who to point fingers at. "Do I?" He tried to comprehend what he saw. Eliot was holding Skye's right leg and Skye had a handful of Eliot's hair in her left hand. He shook his head. "Actually, I don't want to know."

Skye let out a sigh of relief before looking at Eliot. "On three?" She watched him nod but his eyes were locked on her. "One.. Two.. Three." She let go of his hair the same time he let go of her leg.

"I thank you for not pulling out my hair." Eliot rubbed the spot where she tugged.

"Yeah, whatever." Skye flicked some water at him and laughed when he took several steps back, wiping the water from his cheeks.

"Are you two done?" Nate looked at the two and bowed his head when Skye pointed a finger at Eliot. "I swear."

**Author's Note: So a little bit of history thrown in there. Eliot letting Skye in just about as much as she's letting him in. Hope you guys are enjoying it. I tried to make this one a bit longer too.**


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay, Cat wants me to be there at eight with Eliot." Skye got off the phone again after explaining to her boss the situation for tomorrow and that Eliot would only be there for that one night. She looked at Nate, who was nodding. "Then tonight is just prepping up for tomorrow." She tucked the phone into her jacket, watching the crew.

"Exactly. I know you told us what security system Quarantine has installed but I figured we do a quick scan of the building to see where the camera and all the accessories are placed at on each floor." Nate watched Skye carefully. "Has Jordanson branched out his company into different states?"

Skye shook her head, "Not that I know of." She paused, looking at Nate and smiled. "You're planning on offering him that opportunity to branch out." Her brain clicked into understanding when he gave her a small smirk. "So basically, for him to branch out, he-"

"He will have to call his partners, possibly the ones that causing this 'irregular funding' that Lisa found." Nate finished for her, watching her come sit on the arm of Eliot's chair. He looked at all of them, seeing how easily Skye had fit into the crew. "Jordanson here is a money hungry CEO. Self made millionaire like Skye said. However, we need him to think that he company is so great, that he has to branch out around the U.S." Nate pointed to the photo of Jordanson on the screens behind him. He saw Skye's eyes light up and pointed to her. "Tomorrow night, I want you to find anything about his company that he's keeping a secret."

Skye smirked. "Yes, sir."

"Also, Skye. If this ends well and he's taken down, I want to talk to you." Nate added before looking at the rest. "Skye, I want you to be with Eliot, makes some rounds around the building. Parker and Hardison, you'll be going inside the building. Find out where the security systems are placed in Quarantine. Sophie, you and I have some business to discuss." Nate smiled eagerly.

"Oh, here Skye. I made some extra's when I first made these. Here's an earbud." Hardison held out a tiny earbud to the black haired beauty.

Skye took it gingerly, eyeing the ear piece before looking at Hardison. "Anything I should know about before I stick it in?"

"Don't go swimming with it in." Eliot said gruffly as he shot a glare at Hardison and Parker, reminding them of the incident where he got hit by a car and fell into the water at the docks. His glare faded slightly when Skye gave him a light smack on the shoulder.

"Be nice." Skye glanced at Eliot before placing the earbud in her ear. She notice the other watching her. "What?"

Nate shook his head. "Alright, go on. We're wasting daylight here." He urged the four to go and sat down on the couch next to Sophie. Once the four had left, he took a glance at Sophie, "So you think she'd fit in well?"

"So this is the Mystery Machine?" Skye looked around the van, admiring the little setup Hardison had built in the back.

"Yeah, all the magic happens back here." Hardison gave Skye a fist bump after turning around in the passenger seat. Skye had insisted she sit in the back with Parker once Eliot had taken the keys to the van, so he was stuck up front with Eliot.

Eliot gave a bark of laughter. "What magic? I'm pretty sure you haven't gotten laid in the backseat." He glanced at Hardison who gave him the usual glare. "You left yourself open, man."

Skye rolled her eyes before noticing Parker staring at her. She tilted her head slightly before smiling when she saw the curiousness in the blonde's eyes. "I know you want to ask me something."

Parker didn't skip a beat, asking Skye if she has ever repelled down a stairway shaft, picked a lock, and what her favorite breakfast meal.

"Well.." Skye made herself comfortable behind Hardison's seat. "Yes I have repelled down a stairway shaft and off buildings. I didn't do much lock picking since I come across key card locks mostly. Lisa unlocked the doors and I.." Skye shrugged with a smile. "Just walked on through." She smiled at the vivid memory before thinking of her favorite breakfast. "Pancakes. I eat cereal when I'm in a hurry." She saw Parker's eyes lit up and somehow they got into a huge conversation about thieving.

Eliot stopped at a stoplight before turning to look at Parker and Skye talking casually. He looked at Hardison with a raised eyebrow before they both looked back at the women talking about different security systems. He shook his head as he turned back around. "I think we may have a problem if we're gonna have two Parkers." He said quietly, seeing Hardison nod out of the corner of his eye. He took a glance over his shoulder at the girl's once more and groaned. "You've got to be kidding me."

Hardison raised his brows, turning to look over his shoulder and placed a palm at his forehead. What they saw made them both silently worry, Parker was taking Skye into her world. Parker was teacher Skye how to pick a lock and Skye was picking up on the skill quickly. "But look at Parker, man. She's bonding." Hardison pointed out but watched Eliot shake his head as he drove the van to the Quarantine building.

The drive to Quarantine was enjoyable, well at least to Skye's point of view. Eliot and Hardison were discussing, or arguing the difference between video game fishing and actual fishing. She found herself talking easily with Parker but it wasn't everyday talk. It was thief talk, but Skye enjoyed it to full extent since Parker was telling her some stories of the previous jobs they have done. After awhile, it became silent in the van and Skye glanced around before looking at Parker when she felt her nudge her foot.

"Hey. I'm.. Sorry about your sister." Parker said quietly and saw Skye's surprise.

From what Skye had seen of Parker and after talking to her, she didn't think the blonde was able to express feelings through words yet. She just gave Parker a short nod. "Thanks. It will be difficult going back home when this is done." She saw Parker's slight confusion and cleared her throat. "Let me put it this way. You see everyone, everyday right?" She watched Parker nod. "Okay. Now knowing that if you come over to Nate's condo, everyone will be there. Now think of them just not being there at all one day. Just gone. You've gotten so used to coming over and seeing them, that it's surprising to find no one there and they will never be there." Skye said and saw the understanding in Parker's expression, even if it was faint. "Everyday, I knew Lisa was gonna be home when I got there. Or if I got home before her, I knew she was on her way to come home. Now.." Skye took a breath and looked away. "You remind me of her, actually. She was always so full of energy and always happy. She taught me to smile truly without even trying." She looked at Parker, jerking her head up when Eliot cleared his throat.

"We're here." Eliot glanced at Hardison before looking over his shoulder at the women, feeling the slight tension in the back. "Everyone alright?"

"Yep." Skye and Parker said in union and they both grinned at each other. "Come on." Skye opened the sliding door on the passenger side and stepped out with Parker behind her.

"Alright, Parker and I will head inside to get a feel for the place for tomorrow." Hardison looked at the three for conformation but saw Skye's hesitance.

"Shouldn't I go in with Parker? So that way if something-" Skye broke off from her sentence when Eliot lightly tapped her arm with the back of his fingers.

"She'll be fine." Eliot assured before glancing back at the van where Parker was changing into the wait staff uniform. Hardison was already wearing the disguise. "You and me will be checking the security outside of the building."

Skye nodded slowly. "Alright." She took a step away from the van when she heard the door open again and Parker slipped out in a wait staff uniform. She looked from Hardison to Parker, nodding in approval. "I'll try not to interfere then." She smiled before watching the two walk off leaving her and Eliot alone.

"Alright, let's go." Eliot motioned for them to leave with the tilt of his head before walking off, hearing Skye behind him. He glanced down at his arm when he felt Skye hooked her hand through, placing her hand in the hook of his elbow.

"You want to act casual, right?" Skye asked, matching his footsteps with hers.

'Skye, don't you have any sort of disguise? Don't want to bring too much attention to yourself.' Nate questioned, his voice emanating through their earbuds.

"Don't be ridiculous. Veiled Sins is more of sophisticated strip club. The only ones to recognize me are people with a lot of much. Which include CEO's, mobsters, drug lords, government officials, etcetera." Skye smiled before taking a glance at Eliot.

'Men who like throwing their money around, then.' Nate suggested.

"Basically." Skye looked ahead of her as her and Eliot neared the building. "Did I mention that there's also a restaurant in Veiled Sins?" She smiled, listening to Eliot chuckle beside her.

'Alright, we're inside. Looks like the wait staff has their own elevator.' Parker's voice piped in. 'There's one guard and a camera by the back entrance.'

"Okay. Looks like there are two guards outside by the front entrance. I don't see any cameras." Eliot looked at the front of the building.

"I think there's one inside aiming at the doors." Skye shrugged before giving a short wave to a guard. "I know there's gonna be cameras on the roof-Oh, they're at the corner's." Skye tilted her chin to the side, seeing Eliot look at the camera placed at the corner of the building.

"Rotating?" Eliot inquired.

"Looks like it." Skye looked away when they both walked passed the building. She glanced at Eliot when he stopped walking. "What's wrong?" She asked, keeping her voice quiet when some other pedestrians walked past them.

"Think about it, Skye." Eliot looked at her. "Quarantine is where scientists finds cures to very deadly diseases. Your sister murdered for finding some irregular funding." He watched her eyes widened and her hand tensed on his arm. "What if one of those diseases get loose?"

Skye closed her eyes. "They would first have to announce a cure and normally a celebration is held. Lisa went to the celebration when they found a cure for lung cancer."

'We don't know if he is planning on setting loose a disease.' Sophie's voice entered into Skye's ear.

'Well wait, if he does let loose one. They would be bringing in a lot of income cause people would be swarming into hospitals and medical centers to get the vaccine.' Nate said and Skye felt herself shiver. 'A lot of people will die.'

Skye took a breath. "I'm guessing that's the secret I have to pull out of him?" She questioned, looking away from Eliot's dark gaze.

'One of them. See if he has any partners in on this, IF he is planning this.' Nate answered. 'Hardison, Parker, get out of there when you're done. Hardison, when you get back here, I want you to bring up any more information you can on Jordanson.'

Eliot looked back at the building they passed before looking at Skye. "Does Lisa still have any of those files?"

"I sure hope so." Skye looked at Eliot before letting go of his arm and storming off.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's Note: Hey guys, sorry for it being a bit slow and tense. Also, I may be a bit slow on updating these, but I will try my best to not make them so late. Also, I may do some rearranging the settings, I re watched Season 3 and saw that Nate's living room became an office.. So yeah. Sorry if that confused with some of you. I may do that with previous chapters as well, unless somehow in Season 4 they still have the couch. Hope you are enjoying the story, minus the little setting detail.**

Skye shifted uncomfortably on Eliot's couch, rousing her from her slumber. She opened her eyes slowly, waiting for her vision to clear up and lifted her head to see her surroundings. She saw why she was also uncomfortable. Her right leg was slung over the arm of the couch while her left leg was hooked under her right leg. The pillow she was on caused a kink in her neck. _I swore I was on the bigger couch._ She thought, trying to sit up. She paused, hearing a faint singsong voice. She looked over her shoulder to the back door and fell back on her back when the door opened.

Eliot looked over at the love seat Skye had fell asleep on. He had found it amusing and he had given her a pillow earlier. He pushed his hair away from his face, looking over at the time on the clock, seeing it was four in the morning. He had gone to bed two hours ago and since then he has been working in the yard. Sweat beaded his forehead and over him, dirt smeared over an already grease smeared white tank top and jeans. He looked back over at couch Skye was asleep on, he walked over quietly to check on her.

"You weren't kidding about the gardening." Skye looked up at Eliot, fully awake. It was hard to ignore the smell of dirt and sweat in the air when he came in. She watched his brows raise before giving her frown as if daring her to make fun of him. She smiled, shaking her head before sitting up and stretched her stiff legs after swinging them over the side of the couch. She felt the cautiousness that surrounded him as she stood. "What did I say about frowning?" She lifted her hand hesitantly before smoothing her thumb between his brows.

Eliot felt himself relax when she smiled at him. He had taken a good look at her and she looked exactly like she did the night before minus the satin pajama's she wore. He closes his eyes when she smoothed her thumb between his brows. "Sorry." He muttered, opening his eyes when she pulled away and saw pain cross her expression. "You alright?"

Skye nodded. "Just stiff." She dismissed his worried look with a wave of her hand. "I'm alright." She assured, covering a yawn with the back of her hand. "What are you doing up this early?"

"I only sleep ninety minutes a day." Eliot shrugged, still a bit worried over her condition. "Here." He put a hand on her back, pushing her towards the longer couch. When she sat down, he sat behind her. "Hope you don't mind your shirt getting a bit dirty." He laughed as he began to massage her shoulders and neck.

"You don't have to." Skye's sentence became slow and faint as she relaxed. "Is massage therapy another hobby of yours?" She asked, slumping when he worked his way down her back.

"Dated a massage therapist actually." Eliot arched an eyebrow when he watched her stiff posture slump in relaxation.

Skye nodded, closing her eyes as she sat in silence. Letting Eliot work contently on her back before working his hands back up to her shoulders then working on the kink in her neck.

"Feeling better?" Eliot asked, breaking the silence that hung between them like a thick curtain.

"Definitely." Skye looked over her shoulder and found the pain gone and she smiled lazily. She almost frowned when his hands disappeared from her back but the glint in his blue eyes startled her. She looked away, rolling her shoulders before standing up with him. "I wouldn't want to keep you from your garden." She turned to look at him. "But thank you for the massage." She took a step back. "I'm gonna go back to bed." She kept him from saying anything as she turned her back on him and headed back into her room.

Eliot let out sigh when he heard the door close. Looking around, he pushed his fingers through his hair before going back outside.

Nate looked up from the files Skye manage to get from her rundown house yesterday to see Skye and Eliot come in early. He watched them cautiously before looking around. "You two are early." He put down the paper he was looking at and saw Skye had a cup holder with six coffee cups placed in it. He looked at Eliot when the Hitter put down a box of donuts.

"Her idea." Eliot stated before taking the cup Skye was holding out to him.

"And you didn't object?" Nate asked knowing well Eliot was the healthy type and rarely ate any sort of sugary food besides coffee and the occasional pizza.

"Oh he did." Skye walked over to Nate, holding two coffee cups but handed him one. "He told me you like Irish cream." Skye glanced over at Eliot and frowned when he rolled his eyes. "Oh come on." She snapped.

"What?" Eliot growled back before he took a drink from his cup.

"You can't still be mad about that?" Skye placed a hand on her hip, glaring at the Hitter.

"Mad about what?" Nate arched an eyebrow at the two. Two days ago they were getting along fine but now they were arguing in front of him.

Skye turned to look at Nate. "He's mad because I didn't eat any breakfast but wanted donuts on the way here." She growled before taking a drink. She watched Eliot eye the donuts and sighed in exasperation.

"Where did you get them?" Nate asked, seemingly uninterested as he leaned back on the couch as he looked at the files.

"Dunkin' Donuts." Skye said and smiled when Nate perked up. "Found one that was close to where Eliot lives. And.." She closed her eyes. "It says it on the cup, Nate." She watched Nate before walking over to the kitchen counter and opening the box. She grabbed a chocolate kreme filled donut with a napkin before walking over to Eliot's chair and sitting on the arm out of habit. She looked up, hearing footsteps heading down the stairs and saw Sophie pause just as Skye paused with the donut halfway to her mouth. "Donut's and coffee. The coffee cup will have your name on it." Skye pointed to the counter before looking away and taking a bite.

"A part of me was hoping you had made the donuts." Nate shrugged before putting the paper down and stood up.

"You cook?" Eliot looked up at Skye after watching Sophie look at the donuts while drinking the coffee.

"Bake. I hate cooking." Skye said after chewing the bite she had taken. "Plus I don't think Eliot would have approved if I started baking in his kitchen. I don't think he likes it when I'm in his kitchen period." Skye glanced at Eliot before taking another bite.

"So find anything useful?" Eliot asked, motioning towards the pile of papers on the table.

"Sort of." Nate shrugged and picked up the pile of papers before walking over to the long table in front of the six television screens. "We'll discuss it when the others arrive, which should be any minute now." Nate tossed the folder onto the long table then changed direction to head into the kitchen.

Skye watched Nate before sliding off the arm of the chair. "Have to say, this place doesn't feel exactly homely. Is this your exact office and you just sleep upstairs? I mean there is a small seating area." She motioned to where Eliot was sitting by a large flat screen television.

"I didn't exactly have a choice. Apparently while I was in prison, Hardison decided to make my home into an office." Nate watched her, noticing a change of personality by her sudden questions of their surroundings. "You are now just asking about my home?"

"Well." Skye swallowed her food. "The first two days, I wasn't exactly paying attention. Now I just found it odd." She raised an eyebrow. "Hardison did all this?"

"Yeah. He's my landlord." Nate said grimly and looked over at Sophie who giggled quietly. He looked over at the front door when it opened and watched Hardison and Parker walk in. "How nice of you to join us."

"Hey man, we're here at the usual time. Not our fault Grumpy and Porn star here decided to be early." Hardison pointed at Eliot then Skye. He looked at Eliot, seeing the Hitter giving him a dark glare. "Hey man, you look grumpy."

"Eliot always looks grumpy." Parker picked up a coffee cup with her name on it. "Who brought the donuts?"

"I did." Skye's voice turned sharp and her death glare was pointed at Hardison. "You however are not aloud to have any." She growled, not bothering to calm Eliot. "You know there's a fine line between porn star and strip dancing." She growled and watched Hardison hesitate to go near her to get his coffee.

Parker furrowed her brows in curiousity. "What's the fine line?"

"I don't have sex on stage. Porn stars are people who make movies that have zero plot and have very graphic sex scenes. Strippers just take their clothes off." Skye straightened and took Hardison's cup. "You know, you don't even get your coffee. Eliot, you want his coffee?" Skye turned to find Eliot beside her.

"Skye." Nate exasperated, rubbing his temples with his forefingers.

"He called me a porn star." Skye said defensively before looking at Hardison when she heard him stutter.

"Ah S-Skye. I- I'm sorry. I- I was. I was just-just joking, girl." Hardison stuttered and took a brave step forward.

Skye arched a slim eyebrow before looking at Eliot who looked back at her. A sense of understanding passed between them before she watched Eliot take Hardison's cup and hand it over to the nervous Hacker. "I give you kudos to even stepping towards us with the way Eliot was looking at you." Skye took a sip of her coffee and watched Eliot reach pass her to grab a glazed donut.

"Hardison, want to put up what else you've found on Jordanson?" Nate said, breaking the tension in the room and, with the everyone, walked over to the long table by the six screens. He looked at Skye as she stood next to Eliot while the others sat down in the chairs.

Hardison shrugged. "Not much. No police records, nothing totally out of the ordinary."

"What about him spending fifteen million dollars?" Nate asked and felt the silence as much as he heard it. He looked at Skye and her eyes met his. "That 'odd' funding? It had to do with fifteen million dollars." He looked away and back at the screen. "Now either Jordanson bought something for fifteen million or he is simply giving it away. Now with how much income Quarantine is taking, fifteen mil does not seem to make a dent, but it's oddly noticeable."

"Maybe he got a house?" Parker inquired as she tilted her head to the side.

"No, because that would be his money. He's using the companies money for something. He must have partner in this that nobody knows about." Skye took the last bite of her donut, licking the cream from her lips. "Money laundering?"

"Possibly. But if he does have a partner, then he would have to speak with them to let them know if he plans on branching out into different states." Sophie pulled the folder towards her and she began flipping through the pages.

"Hardison, do you think that you got in Jordanson computer, it would say where the money went to? What account, company?" Nate looked over at Hardison and watched him give him a nod of approval. "Alright, rest up guys. We have work to do tonight."


	9. Chapter 9

Eliot's eyes gazed over the inside of the Veiled Sins, spotting Skye on the stage and working her magic. He did admire the other ladies up on the stage but he watched Skye spin around a pole in an elegant fashion. In front of her was their mark Lance Jordanson, who also seemed to be pleased with the attention he was getting from Skye. Eliot couldn't blame him, Skye could make you feel like the most important man in the world. He looked at Skye, looking at her outfit once more. A three piece set that contributed of a dark blue soft lace bra top, garter belt thong and stockings with contrast trim, also black high heel pumps that increased her height and giving her the image of having longer legs. He took notice of a tattoo on her upper back but couldn't get a proper look when she was constantly moving.

Eliot felt his breath caught when he caught her staring at him with a sultry gaze before turning her attention back to Jordanson. Eliot shook his head slowly, brushing away the few strands of hair that had escaped the tight ponytail he used to constrain his thick hair.

'How is she?' Nates voice came through on the earbuds.

"Fine, she's holding his attention." Eliot replied quietly, looking back at Jordanson who was dressed in a casual black business suit.

'Good. Sophie and I are in now.' Nate stated and Eliot watched both Nate and Sophie walk in. Nate wearing his usual all black attire and Sophie wearing a red form fitting dress that ended just above her knees.

Eliot looked away from his comrades and let his eyes gaze across the room. It was a large room with the stage taking up most of the room along with a bar to the right of the room and on the left side, there was a door way that led to the restaurant. There was a door by the right of the stage that led into a hallway where the dancers could perform for a client. The stage was set in the back and on both sides, the stage branched out into catwalks towards the front of the room, making a 'U' shape. Skye was on the main stage, and from what he saw, she was upside down on the pole she owned.

Bored, Eliot began making some rounds with the other men in black. He moved his way easily through the nicely spaced out tables and the heavy crowd. "Are you two almost done?" He growled, speaking to Hardison and Parker when he saw Nate and Sophie began speaking to their target.

'Man, I don't hear you being useful. Bet you're just standing around while everyone else does the work.' Hardison retorted and Eliot could hear the light tappings of a keyboard.

Eliot rolled his eyes at the hacker's sarcasm and looked over at the stage, watching Skye before moving on so he wouldn't grab any attention to himself. He partially listened to the conversation Nate and Sophie were having with Jordanson, hopefully to drown out the music the place was playing. He'd prefer the country music over the rock and whatever else the D.J had set up. He found himself constantly looking over in the direction where the group was seated but his eyes always went to Skye. He furrowed his brows and walked to the other side of the room.

'Not enjoying yourself, Cowboy?' Skye's voice was quiet but Eliot heard it clearly as if she was next to him and whispering in his ear.

"Bored." Eliot grumbled, looking past the girls from the other stage to see Skye facing his direction.

'Well relax, for all I know, he doesn't want a personal performance.' Skye snapped, her voice a quiet still and from what Eliot saw, she barely moved her lips. 'He just may leave after the proposition Nate and Sophie are offering him.'

'Eliot? Relaxing? Ha, that's funny.' Parker's voice was louder than Skye's and it made Eliot jerk when he was getting used to the soft tones.

'True, seeing as-' Skye's voice faded and Eliot saw her kneel down and a part of him felt furious when a man placed a dollar bill in the hip of her underwear. 'This is the most popular place for gangs to sit back and relax.' Skye finished.

'You sound tired.' Hardison's voice intruded on the conversation as well.

'You try dancing around a pole and occasionally being upside down for two hours.' Skye growled.

Eliot smiled inwardly but kept his featured closed as he made his way back to the other side of the room where he could keep an eye on the others easily, eventually placing his form by the bar.

"Can I get you something? You've been standing around for two hours." The bartender asked and Eliot shrugged.

"A water. No drinking on the job." Eliot chuckled before nodding his head in thanks as the bartender handed him a bottled water. He looked over to see Nate and Sophie stand and seeing Skye walk across the stage.

'We're done. Hardison?' Nate's voice stated.

'Yeah we're on out way out now. We got a lot of dirty stuff on this guy.' Hardison's voice was just above a whisper, giving the indication that he and Parker were back undercover.

'Sophie and I are heading out. Eliot, wait for Skye. I don't want her out of her unsupervised.' Nate added and Eliot watched the two weave their way through the tables and out the door.

"Gotcha." Eliot muttered as he lost sight of Skye when she walked through a door that led to a back room where it was employees only.

Skye fell onto a leather couch, exhaustion overcoming her. The leather cooled her heated skin but the sweat against her skin made it stick to her like the small strands of her hair stuck to her neck. She looked over at the door and felt surprised when Eliot walked through. "You're not.." She tilted her head. "Oh yeah." She had forgot that he was an employee for the night.

"Hurry up." Eliot snapped and saw the defiance in her eyes as she stood up in front of him. Her heels giving her those few extra inches to match his height.

"I still need to go shower and change." Skye lifted her chin defiantly and saw the glare in Eliot's eyes along with something else.

"You can shower when we get back to the house." Eliot pushed the hair out of his eyes, forcing himself not to look at her. The sweat on the skin made her tanned skin gleam like caramel and felt his fingers twitch as the urge to reach out an touch her pulled at him.

Skye narrowed her eyes. " Make me." She regretted the words just as she said them when she saw the look in his eyes. She took a step back as he took long strides to get to her. "Eliot, come on. I was just." She began backing up before remembering her skills and stopped retreating and swung a right hook at him with the force she kept hidden. She watched Eliot take a few steps back to avoid being hit. She moved into a fighting stance, kicking the heels off as she did so.

Eliot felt a bit bemused and took a few daring steps towards her, blocking a kick but wasn't able to avoid when her other foot connected to his side. He grunted before rushing at her, blocking a few of her punches and, as usual, manage to get her arms locked to her sides with her body held up against his. He saw the fury in her eyes as she knew the arm lock as well. "You know you ain't gonna get out of this." He whispered. The tension he felt between him and Skye over the pass few days grow every second she glared at him. Up close, he thought she was cute angry even when she sneered at him before shoving him away.

Skye took a few steps back, picking up her heels before storming off to her locker where it held her clothes and wallet. She avoided looking at Eliot and felt furious at herself that she let him get that close to her and get her arms locked into his. Anger burned through her when saw a smirk on his lips out of the corner of her eye and she slammed the locker door and stormed off into a stall to change in peace without him staring at her. Once changed, she took the earbud out of her ear and shoved it into her front pocket. A bag in one hand that held her attire from that night, the money placed in her wallet. She shot a glare at Eliot before walking towards a door that led to the back of the building. "Lets go already."

Eliot smiled, following her out the door and they both headed towards the truck he brought instead of his motorcycle. His smile faded when Skye avoided to look at him, a pain on her features before it disappeared behind the wall she had built. A wall he was very familiar with since he had one himself. Quietly, he unlocked the door for her and grabbed the handle just when her hand was inches from it. "What's wrong?"

Skye looked at him and felt her heart slam against her chest. "You know exactly what, Eliot." She said sharply and saw his eyes narrow before she looked away from him. She waited a few moments, hoping he would open the door and when he didn't, she looked up at him again. "You gonna open it?"

Eliot didn't move, he shifted his weight from one leg to the other. He looked at the door handle before looking at her. "You gonna tell me what's wrong?"

Angerly, Skye shoved her finger against his chest. "You. This persona you're throwing off."

Eliot arched an eyebrow. "Oh really?" He put his other hand against the truck, trapping her. He leaned forward, his face inches away from hers. "You knew that armlock, why didn't you get out of it sooner?" He asked quietly, seeing the emotions flash through her eyes before she shoved him away. That was when he saw the fear in her eyes. "Skye."

"That persona. This thing that you're doing that's driving me nuts!" Skye shouted. She felt vulnerable near him and knew the feeling a little too well. All her life, she pushed men away as she was afraid she'd hurt them. Lisa was the only one she kept close in her life since Lisa was a thief just as much as she, herself, was. She watched him walk towards her slowly. Eliot was just like her. Only letting you in just enough before locking you out and not letting you get any closer than you should. She pushed her back up against the side of his truck when he was standing in front of her. She cringed when he brought his hand up and reached past her, opening the passenger door.

"Come on." Eliot said quietly, inwardly cursing at himself when he watched her cringe. "Is my place okay?" He asked quietly.

Skye bit her lip before nodding. "You're place is okay." She glanced at him before he walked away and towards the driver's side of the truck. She closed her eyes before stepping up into the truck, shutting it lightly but firmly and let Eliot drive them back to his home.

**Author's Note: Hey guys, I know this one is a bit slow on the action but there's always a slow part. Promise things start going back into motion in the next chapter.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Okay, Sophie and I are gonna head over to Jordanson's office later this afternoon to continue our meeting from the previous night. This way he had time to call his partners and-" Nate paused, watching Skye move away from Eliot when the Hitter stood next to her instead of taking a seat at the long table. He felt the tension and knew the others felt it too. Not to mention it was distracting to watch Skye shift constantly and move away from Eliot every time he tried going near her. "What's going on?"

"Nothing." Eliot and Skye's voiced in union, taking a small glance at each other afterwards before looking at Nate from separate ends of the table. Skye made a circling motion with her hand since the other was holding a cup of coffee. "Continue."

Nate sighed before moving around the table to sit beside Sophie and Parker with them on either side of him. "Hardison."

"Alright. That fifteen mil that went missing? Well it went into an account called Puerta del Cielo. It does look like he's giving someone money because there's more than fifteen mil in that Puera dol whatever."

"Puerta del Cielo. Mean's Heaven's Gate." Skye said quietly, she felt frozen inside.

Sophie eyed Skye curiously. "What's wrong?"

"Puerta del Cielo is my father's old account. He made it before he moved here to the U.S from Spain." Skye said quietly. "Lisa and I emptied that account after his death. But it could just be coincidence that someone else made that account. Though he was familiar with the Spanish mobs over there, probably why he moved here." She leaned closer to Hardison to look at his laptop. "Can you tell where this account is?"

"Well it is made from a U.S bank." Hardison nodded before looking at Parker when she leaned to look also.

"So there's a possibility that the owner of the account is Spanish." Eliot spoke up and watched Skye shrug.

"Heaven's Gate. That falls under the death stuff." Parker looked at the team, looking from left to right.

"Okay, this is a bit confusing. Quarantine, a company that finds cures to deadly diseases, gives fifteen million dollars away and is placed into an account name similar to the one my father had. My father's been dead for two years, so he couldn't have anything to do with this." Skye closed her eyes as a headache began to grow at her temple.

"Okay, if it is money laundering. Where is Lance getting the dirty money from?" Sophie inquired, moving her eyes to Nate who seemed deep in thought.

"Maybe it's not money laundering. Maybe it's a sort of trade. Lance gives a certain percentage of how much the company makes to his partners and they give him something in return to repay the debt." Nate looked at Skye when she cleared her throat.

"Eliot gave the assumption that Lance may be releasing a deadly disease. Probably something that could wipe out the state. Bubonic Plague for example. Does that tie in with him sending fifteen mil into a separate account that's called Heaven's Gate?" Skye pointed out.

"Well we need him to confess that those are tied together, but how are they tied together is beyond me." Sophie shrugged and looked over at Hardison with a hand in the air and his face close to the computer screen.

"Hey guys. I just took another look at Jordanson's schedule. This Saturday, Quarantine is holding a celebration for finding a cure for Pneumonic plague." Hardison's voice faltered knowing well that pneumonic plague was a very deadly disease. Even with treatment it reduces the chance of death by fifty percent.

"That's in five days." Skye looked at Hardison before looking at the full team in front of her.

"Hardison, I want you to look through all those files. See who owns that account, find out where that money is going. Sophie and I have to get ready to leave and Skye." Nate looked over at Skye. "I want you to relax. Eliot, keep an eye on her cause I don't trust her that she wont run off." Nate stood up from his stool before looking at the clock.

"This is almost like that job with the super wheat." Hardison muttered as he let started reading the files that he copied from Jordanson's computer.

Skye looked away from everyone and made her way into the small seating area close to the kitchen. She placed her warm cup of coffee on the table as she sat on the couch before covering her face with her hands. She let herself get lost in her thoughts, trying to figure out the problem laid out before them. Them. She shook her head as she closed her eyes. She wasn't one of them and Nate seemed reluctant to bring her in on this mission. She wouldn't become part of the team, she wouldn't let herself no matter how well she and Parker got along. No matter how well her and Sophie's interests were. Lisa popped into her mind and memories of their crimes poured into her soul. Lisa calling her an adrenaline junkie and the thrill of the chase always got to her. Lisa was her team. Was.

"Hey."

Skye looked up at the sound of Eliot's voice pulled her away from her thoughts. She didn't even hear him walk over and know he was crouching in front of her. What she saw in his eyes pulled at her heart and a part of her longed for that. Longed to feel she wasn't alone. "Hey." Her voice was just above a whisper and it was raspy. She cleared her throat, trying to hide the smile when she heard herself squeak but saw Eliot didn't try to hide the amusement.

"So, are we just going to keep on doing this? Or, you just going to keep on pulling away?" Eliot asked and watched her look away. It gave him a moment to look over her ragged form. A white tank top under a sweater she wore which showed off her right shoulder. Faded jeans that were torn at the hem and brown hiking boots similar to his. There were shadows under her eyes but she had hidden them from wearing sunglasses on the way to Nate's condo. "Skye."

Skye let her eyes glaze at Eliot before reaching past him, her chin almost resting against his shoulder as she grabbed her coffee. She turned her head to look into his eyes. "What do you think?" She whispered as she began to pull away but couldn't when Eliot's hand rested on her shoulder. "Eliot?"

"I know exactly what you're going through." Eliot growled a bit too harshly then intended. He looked over her face, taking in the bright, pale blue eyes, her lips, the way her hair moved. He saw she didn't believe him and sighed. "I'm through the same thing, Skye." He said quietly as he looked back into her eyes. "I don't want to let you in but can't help but want to. I don't want you to let me in but I can't help but want to be in. These past few days have been rough, I know. I see the pain, the loneliness." He brushed her hair aside with his other hand. "You are not alone." He said and his shoulders slumped when he saw tears brimming her eyes. "Does Lisa want you to mourn over her life forever? Or would she want you to move on and be happy? If she's like Parker, then I can assume Lisa was always wanting you to be happy." He brushed a fallen tear away and closed his eyes when Skye rested her forehead on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her shoulders.

Parker watched intently and looked at Hardison. "You know that tension that has been suffocating all of us these few day?" She asked, being blunt as usual but that's how she always was. When she watched Hardison give her an odd look but nod. "Well I think it went away." She said quietly as she pointed to Skye and Eliot.

"And here I was thinking they should just beat the crap out of each other or beat up someone to let out all that emotion." Hardison shook his head. He knew what Parker was talking about. There was always an odd tension between Skye and Eliot, even though he found it quite odd since Eliot could very easily pick up a girl in a moment of seconds. He figured it was just Skye since she had just lost her sister last week, but then it could have been Eliot. But the tension was distracting some of them, but now the tension was fading. "Wondering what they're talking about." He mused.

"I can go check." Parker offered, standing but stopped when Hardison grabbed her arm without looking up from his laptop.

"I don't think that's such a good idea. Maybe it's better if they decide to tell us." Hardison glanced at Parker before reading the file he was currently on.

Parker pouted, curiosity spiking within her system and forced herself to sit instead of going off to find out what Eliot and Skye were talking about.

Eliot shifted and looked at Skye when she lifted her head from his shoulder. Her eyes were rimmed with redness from the tears and he brushed his thumbs across her cheeks to dry the already fallen tears. "Let me take you out. Nate wants us to relax and you do not relaxed." He arched an eyebrow at her surprise.

"Now?" Skye sniffed, looking up when Eliot stood and took her hands.

"Yep, come on." Eliot insisted as he pulled her up to her feet, half expecting that she'd probably bump into him when he pulled her up but didn't expect her to fall back down. "Okay I did not pull you up that hard." He laughed.

"Well I sure as hell didn't purposely stand up. Look at how close your standing, I mean, jeeze." Skye rolled her eyes before making a shooing motion with her hands. "Move." She muttered a curse under her breath when he grabbed her hands and pulled her up again but she knew she wasn't going to fall but apparently he didn't since he immediately wrapped his arms around her waist. "You'd think we'd learn the first time." She rolled her eyes and gave a wave to Parker when she noticed the blonde thief was watching curiously.

"Didn't want you to fall back down again." Eliot looked over his shoulder to look at who Skye was waving to.

"I wasn't going to fall. I had found my footing. The first time, my toes were the only thing keeping me grounded and I lost balance when I bumped into you." Skye looked up at Eliot as she placed her hands on his chest. "Okay, so let me ask you this now. How the hell are we going to move."

"Oh I have an idea." Eliot smirked and before Skye could react, he unwrapped one arm from her waist and reached down, slipping his arm down the back of her knees and lifted. He stood, cradling her in his arms and he smiled at the surprise expression on her face.

Skye looked around and tensed up. "Drop me, and I will kill you." She looked up at Eliot and felt him turn away from the couch and lower her down to the ground.

"Hardison, Skye and I are leaving. Give us a ring if you want anything." Eliot shouted over to Hardison.

"How about some lunch?" The hacker inquired as he turned around to look at the two, tension just about disappeared. He gave the two a wave as he watched them walk out the door then looked at Parker. "Why don't you help me read these things." He threw the image of some of the files onto the six screens so Parker would help read.

"Eliot! I think he's done. Wait! Oh, ouch." Skye took a step back as another man fell at her feet. She watched Eliot do what he does best at, beating heads. There was a flurry of punches and Skye cringed from the damage the other man was receiving from Eliot. She recognized some of the arm locks that broke or dislocated the arm at the right pressure and seeing someone besides herself do it swiftly, really amazed her. Course, before the fight broke out, Eliot kept Skye from joining in the on the fight like the usual gentleman. However when Skye spotted a man come up behind Eliot she couldn't keep herself from just standing by. With a swift movement, she did a roundhouse kick behind the man's knees, making him fall to one knee and she planted her other foot between his shoulders making him collapse onto the asphalt. She reached passed Eliot, grabbing onto the man's shirt and giving him a hurtful head butt. She watched as another man ran up to them but she sidestepped closer to Eliot and held out her arm in a clothesline. Adrenaline rushed through her and she shifted between her feet eagerly and saw Eliot's somewhat surprise expression when he saw the fallen man behind him. "Couldn't let you have all the fun." She said cheerfully.

"Come on." Eliot gruffly pushed her in the direction of his truck and she climbed in after moving the pizza box into the back seat.

"Go go." Skye glanced behind her when Eliot climbed into the driver's seat and started the engine. She saw a group of guys heading in their direction, but Eliot was already pulling out of the parking space and weaving through the parking lot before heading onto the surface road. Her eyes went over to Eliot and saw a bruise forming just under his eye and split lip.

"I thought I told you to stay put." Eliot glanced at her.

"You did." Skye pointed out, peeking into the pizza box.

"I could have handled it." Eliot slowed to a stop light and leaned back in his seat comfortable.

"I know." Skye shrugged and looked over at Eliot.

"You have a reputation to withhold." Eliot rolled his shoulders before gently touching his lip.

"My reputation is to beat the crap out of guys who touch me. That man at Veiled Sins wasn't the first man I bashed heads with when he didn't like it when I said no to him about touching me." Skye pointed a finger at him before pointing to the light. "Go."

The two were still bickering about Skye joining in on the fight when they came into Nate's apartment. "You may be used to fighting for others but you don't have to fight for me Eliot." Skye snapped, turning to look at him when he put the pizza box on the kitchen counter.

"You guys got into a fight?" Nate asked, watching the two not seeing what Hardison and Parker told him earlier when the tension had left just about completely.

"Oh hey Nate. Yeah, a group of Italians came up and Eliot basically went berserker on them. I helped him out a bit, we left before the rest could get to us." Skye turned to wave at Nate before freezing and looking at the time. "Short meeting, how was it?"

"Italians?" Nate looked at the two, seeing Eliot was beaten up more than Skye.

"Yeah. I told her to not get involved but."

"Oh shut up. I couldn't let you have all the fun." Skye interupted popping another piece of cookie dough in her mouth. "Pizza's here, by the way." Skye added and watched Hardison and Parker rush at the kitchen counter. "So, how'd the meeting go?" Skye managed to dodge the two and wander over to Nate.

"Well, he contacted his partner and it seems they want to meet us." Nate watched Skye sit down next to him. "But he is hooked, it's just the tiny details he wants to go over with Alejandro Marrero." Nate watched Skye freeze beside him and her eyes widened as if going into shock. "Skye?"

"Marrero?" Skye looked at Nate before closing her eyes. "Shit." She let out a slow breath. "Alejandro Marrero is the man my aunt married. They divorced a long while ago, 'bout like ten years ago. He's like your average arms dealer, except he specializes in making odd devices. That's probably where that fifteen mil went to. Jordanson gave Marrero that money to make something for him." Skye looked at Nate before looking down at her forgotten cookie dough then arched an eyebrow when Parker bravely took a piece.

"Alright well, that changes plans. Eliot I'm gonna need you to come with me and Soph tomorrow. Skye I want you to stay with Hardison and Parker. Please." Nate raised a hand and placed it on the top of her head. "Marrero may remember you and I don't want you to blow the cover."

"The first time I saw him, I was ten." Skye retorted and moved the cookie dough away from Parker, yet it didn't stop Parker from trying. "He wont recognize me."

"What about Veiled Sins. He may see you as Luna." Nate tilted his head as she shook her head.

"He lives over in Spain. The only time he comes on U.S land is for business, and even then he doesn't come to a strip club." Skye looked at Parker when the blonde reached around to grab the cup.

"You sure know a lot about him." Nate raised his brows when she frowned.

"I'm nosey." Skye simply stated before rolling her eyes. "If you want some, just ask Parker. Stop reaching around because you are not going to win, I assure you of that." She looked at Parker squarely and found the thief smiling.

"She's like Eliot." Parker said, her smile acknowledging the dare that was written on Skye's features.

Skye shook her head before getting up. "I have to make some phone calls anyways. I need to set up the funeral." She muttered as she pulled her phone out of her front pocket.

Parker watched Skye walk off before feeling Nate's gaze. "What? She does."


	11. Chapter 11

After a few days had gone by, things around Nate's home had started to change. The tension between Skye and Eliot had began to fade in and out, sometimes rising up back to the normal tension. Yet, that wasn't the only tension in the air. Plans were falling into place and so there was need for Skye to be of any use, and she noticed it. During those few days, Skye had been excluding herself from their small meetings, bringing a book or whatever else to keep her occupied. For a few of the members, it was beginning to be distracting. Having a thief lounge in their office and not being of any use.

However, on this day, the team was discussing a situation that could wrap everything up, something similar to what they did to bring down Mitchell Kirkwood. However, for this plan to work, they needed Skye. Eliot had offered to ask her but all of them refused until each of them offered to ask to tempered thief. It wasn't until everyone agreed that Nate should ask Skye because of their past together. Each one fell silent as they watched him walk over casually towards Skye and prayed that the woman didn't tear their leader apart. Verbally, you could say since unless Skye was able to land a hit on Nate before Eliot got to his side.

"Skye, are you busy Saturday?" Nate walked over to Skye, rubbing the back of his neck. As he neared, he felt the tension that she was putting off as she sat alone in the kitchen. It wasn't the first time she excluded herself from the team and Nate didn't exactly like it.

"Why?" Skye looked up from her book, raising a brow at the older gentleman she considered a brother. She knew what was going down that Saturday and figured she wasn't needed. So when Eliot brought her over to Nate's, she would exclude herself from the group. She watched him hesitate and kicked open a chair for him. "Well we may need another hand on deck that night." Nate sat in the chair and rested his arms on the table.

Skye continued to read her book before giving him a shrug. "And what would you like me to do?"

Nate put a hand over her book, causing her to look at him. "I need you to make Lance Jordanson confess. That earbud is also a microphone and Hardison would be able to record what he says. If he confesses that he did hire someone to kill Lisa, then that's one charge. If he confesses that and that he's planning on releasing pneumonic plague, that's another felony." Nate watched her carefully before feeling the book being wrenched away.

Skye closed her book gently before pushing it away. "Why not have Eliot torture him until he confesses?" She inquired, glancing over at Eliot as he and the others spoke about the plan tomorrow night.

"Because Eliot will be with you to make sure no one interrupts you. There's a chance Lance may have some men with him since Marrero will be there as well." Nate pulled his hand back. "Hardison will be handling the camera's. So it would be better proof if we catch him on camera saying it also."

Skye looked away from Nate. "Any other charges that could be put against him besides being an accessory to a murder?" She looked down at her book, pushing a lock of hair behind her ear.

"Well accessory to a murder, attempting murder, and possibly dealing in a bribe." Nate shrugged but saw the faint interest in Skye's features. He knew what she wanted, he was previously in that position after all. She wanted revenge and he was planning on giving it to her.

"Hey guys. Don't mean to interrupt the little pep talk, but I found something you need to see." Hardison called over, looking over at Nate and Skye. "Alright, so I finished reading all those damn files and I found out what Marrero could be making for Jordanson. First of all, these files are all dealing with the fifteen mil and what it's being used for, not just the whole accounting-"

"Hardison." Skye made a hand motion to move forward. "Don't exactly have all day." She found everyone looking at her and saw Nate smirk. "What?"

"Look, I found something called Muerte Puerta." Hardison paused. "Death Gate."

"These guys aren't very original with the names." Sophie muttered as she leaned against the long table.

"Spanish, sounds fancier than just. Death Gate." Nate shrugged before letting Hardison continue.

"Anyways, I found these documents that mention what that fifteen mil is being used for." Hardison pulled up the plans on the six television screens. "It's some sort of machine, if I had the plans I could tell you what it is but Jordanson doesn't have them anywhere." He looked at them before looking at the documents on the screen. "And from what I can guess, it's here in Boston but it's not finished."

"Oh boy." Parker whispered before noticing Skye walking away and a phone up to her ear.

"What are you?" Nate asked freezing when Skye held up a hand even though her back was to him.

"Sources." Skye said simply before switching to her father's native tongue.

Hardison arched an eyebrow before looking over at Eliot who chuckled. "You telling me she has sources that are close to Marrero?"

"She was a thief, remember?" Eliot watched Skye, seeing her laugh and it warmed his heart to see her like that.

"Gracias, gracias." Skye closed her phone shut before turning to look at them. "Hardison, can I borrow your computer really quick? A friend was able to send me some files regarding Muerte Puerta." She came up next to Hardison, going into her email, clicking on the file that she just received. She closed down her email before letting Hardison bring up the design plans and document.

Hardison's eyes widened, seeing the architect of the design. "It's a bomb. A dirty bomb." He muttered before looking at Skye. "How'd your friend get this information?"

Skye looked at him as she rested her hands on the table and leaned forward. "He makes bombs for a living. I figured Marrero hired him."

"Have any other sources we should know about?" Nate asked and heard her laugh.

"Nope." Skye looked over at Nate before looking back at the screen. "Go to that document right there." She began reading it when it came up, feeling a bit relaxed at what she read. "It will arrive in Boston tomorrow but it's not finished. They will have to attach the plague to the bomb before it's ready. It's stable though, remote controlled." Skye straightened as she crossed her arms. "Looks like the date for it to go off will be Monday."

"Ha and look who's signed it." Hardison enlarged part of the document. "Our mark and Alejandro Marrero as well."

"Alright, a copy of this document will do just fine since the hard copy is probably either in Spain or in Jordanson's office." Nate looked at the group. "Hardison, is the celebration a public or private party?"

"Private. Only close family and business partners are aloud. Why?"

Nate looked at Skye and smiled. "Cause Skye has agreed to come with. Skye, do you need anything?"

"I have a dress at home that I could use. The police are done there, I'm free to go home without any disturbances." Skye looked at Nate before looking at the screens. "So the original plan was to get him with a bribe. Him bribing you with the information he was going to give you about his company since you wanted to become business partners once he was able to branch out." She narrowed her eyes. "Now you want me to get him to confess a murder and bring down Marrero with an attempted mass murder, correct?" She looked over at Nate and watched him nod. "Fun."

"I still want you over at Eliot's before we finish this, then you can go back home." Nate placed a hand on her shoulder. "Just a safety precaution." He watched her nod reluctantly before letting his hand drop back to his side.

"Oh, and here." Hardison spoke up, nudging her arm lightly as he held out the earbud she returned to him.

Skye gingerly took the earbud. "So what now?"

"Now? We wait." Sophie looked over at Skye with a smile.

Skye let out an irritated sigh, she was tired of waiting but knew things couldn't be rushed. That's just how con's are, patience is needed. "Fine. Hey Eliot, can I get a ride back to my place? I need to pick up a few things from home."

"Can I come?" Parker jumped off her stool eagerly. She saw the irritability in Skye's posture and part of her wanted to be a part of what Skye had up her sleeve.

Skye looked between Eliot and Parker before focusing her attention on the thief. "I guess? I'm just grabbing a dress and maybe. Do. Stuff." Her voice began to falter when Eliot gave her an annoyed look. "Well if you hadn't demanded that I not bring my own vehicle, then maybe I wouldn't be asking you to drive me everywhere."

"You know, that's not a bad idea. Why don't we come over and help you clean up?" Hardison offered. "I got nothing else to do today. Any of you?" He looked from Skye to the rest of the team.

Sophie nodded and Parker jumped with her hand help in the air. Nate shrugged. "I'm fine with it, and it seems everyone else wants to." Nate looked at Skye and smiled. "If you'll let us, that is."

Skye looked over at each one. Eliot seemed to have given up without even putting up an argument. Parker with her eager, childish personality. Hardison being laid back in most cases but easily terrified when he's not behind his computer. Sophie with her kindness she noticed as a motherly way. Finally on Nate. Behind his calm state, he was the overly protective brother both she and Lisa portrayed him as. Within the past week, she's begun to know everything about them. How they act, talk, and even their odd personalities. Finding them all eager to help her with not just getting revenge for her sister, but to help build her life back up, it took her aback. She felt herself smile. "Alright."

Skye found herself laughing most of the time during the cleanup. Parker easily entertaining her just by finding things that fascinated her; Eliot and Hardison bickering and bantering over where things should be placed. She hadn't realized how trashed her house was since when she first walked through. After all, her first instinct was to find Lisa. Now, she had a good look around. Her couch was turned over and television screen was broken. Movies, c.d's, and books were strewn across the floor until she made it to the kitchen where it wasn't as cluttered except for a few broken appliances. It was mostly the living room and kitchen that had been trashed and with help, it was being cleaned.

Skye laughed when Eliot threw his hands up in the air, desperately forcing himself not to throw himself at Hardison and beat him. She looked over at Nate, seeing him place the unbroken movies and c.d's back on the shelves with Parker commenting on each one. Then found Sophie gazing admirably at her art collection from Spain. She looked around, standing up fully when she finished placing her books back on the shelf. Her eyes wandered over to the hallway that lead to a couple of rooms that included hers and Lisa's. She hesitated before walking down that hallway, memories filled the walls with photographs of their childhood and family. She stopped in front of her door, gazing at it as if a monster was on the other side.

"Hey."

Skye jumped at the sound of Eliot's voice. "Jesus!" She snapped as she spun on her heel to look at him, hitting his arm out of aggravation. "Don't scare me like that." She glared at him even as he smiled but saw it fade.

"Is this?" Eliot motioned towards the door she stood in front of.

Skye turned to look at the pale white door and nodded. "My room." She whispered, closing her eyes. Silence hung around her but she knew that if she listened closely, she could hear the laughter and talking in the other room. On the other end of the dark hallway. She looked up at Eliot, feeling his hand gently brush against hers.

"I'm right here." Eliot whispered, looking at Skye as she turned away from him and saw her hand move towards the door handle shakily. He felt her grip tighten when she took ahold of door handle. Hating to see her nervous, he reached passed her and placed a hand on hers, helping her turn the door handle. He listened to her take a deep breath and together they pushed the door open.

Skye closed her eyes, her mind refusing to let her look in the room where her sister was murdered ruthlessly.

"It's okay. No monster, nothing there." Eliot whispered and helped her move into her room, taking a moment to turn on the light. "Nothing here but you and me."

Skye took a breath, slowly opening her eyes and let them adjust to the lighting as she stared blankly at Eliot's chest. She then looked away and around her room. Her bed being the center piece of the room with the dark oak wood headboard pressed up against the wall. Two shelves on either side were covered in nothing but books. Her closet to the left of the room where the bathroom was as well. Across from the bed was a desk with a laptop. Her room looked undisturbed but she knew very well that it was. Her sister wasn't able to make it to where her knives were at. Skye closed her eyes again, feeling the strength Eliot gave her just to do what she thought she wouldn't be able to do. Finally, she opened her eyes again, looking over on the right side of the bed and the image of her sister laying on the floor exploded into her brain.

Eliot felt Skye tense up immediately, following her gaze to the floor on the right side of the bed. He saw a stain in the carpet but it was faint. He lout out a quiet breath, letting an arm wrap around her while he still held her hand. The urge to apologize was strong with him, but she had always brushed it aside like it didn't matter. He heard her sniff and he closed his eyes, holding back the urge to curse to the world before he looked down at her. Gently, he cupped her face in his hands, forcing her to look at him. "I'm so sorry." He let his forehead touch hers.

Skye felt new tears but tried her might to hold them back as she stared up into Eliot's bright blue eyes. She placed her hands on his before letting them slide onto his forearms. She saw the earnest apology in his eyes. She saw no pity and she was grateful. "It's alright. Not your fault." She whispered before biting on her lower lip and closed her eyes. She listened intently and heard the rustle of movement as he wrapped his arms around her and wrapped her arms around her neck before she rested her head on his chest.

"Everything will be alright. I promise." Eliot whispered, gently placing a kiss on her temple as he rubbed her back. He listened to the sound of breathing as it finally evened out but his grip on her did not loosen and took comfort that Skye didn't pull away. He found himself able to hold a promise, whereas he wasn't able to with Aimee since he had made a promise to the U.S government. This time, he felt like could hold a promise to Skye. He was pulled out of this thoughts at the sound of Skye's mournful tone.

"I'm holding you to that, Cowboy."

**Author's note: Okay Okay, I know there's a lot of conversation content going on, but I promise/swear that there will be an even amount of action and conversation in the next one. Also, there will be two chapters left. Plus I'm deciding to making a knew story that continues after this that does include Skye. ALSO, I just started my new job, so updates will be slow but I have not forgotten!**


	12. Chapter 12

"You murderer!" Skye's fist made impact with Lance Jordanson's jaw, causing him to stumble back a few steps. She watched his features show a sign of surprise before anger replaced it in seconds. A part of her wanted to snap his neck or kill him the same way his men killed her sister. She felt sick when he confessed his sins to her, even though she was a killer herself.

"Guards!" Lance yelled, keeping his eyes fixedly on the woman he only knew as Luna. When no one came, he called again but silence hung in the air until he heard the woman chuckle almost devilishly. It was then he watched the door open and in came a man with a dark look.

"You're men wont be joining us tonight." Eliot spoke, fixing his stare on Jordanson even as he came up to Skye but still in the blindspot of the camera. Several countries wanted his head, and he sure as hell wasn't willing to be caught on camera even if Hardison was controlling them.

:Previously:

"Come on, Skye! Jeeze, you take almost as long as Sophie." Eliot snapped, standing on the other side of the door of room he lent to Skye. He took a step back when he heard a loud thump on the door and winced when he heard her yell profanities at him. "Just hurry up." He snapped again before walking away from the door as he fixed his tie. At the sound of a door opening, he turned around and thought that his jaw would hit the floor.

Standing before Eliot, Skye wore an elegant white, one shoulder, banded dress that ended just after mid thigh. His gaze followed down the length of her legs to see she wore black peep toed heels as well. The contrast the dress made with her skin was beautiful, not awkward since she had a light caramel colored skin. His eyes went back up to her face, her pale blue eyes outline in dark eyeshadow, giving off a smokey look. Her black hair set in thick waves that cascaded down her shoulder like a black waterfall.

"So?" Skye popped a quick pose, placing a hand on her hip and flipping her hair back over her shoulder with the other. She didn't have to hear Eliot's response when she saw it in his expression.

Eliot cleared his throat, tearing his eyes away from her. "You look fine." He muttered as he tried fixing his tie. He hated suits and normally he didn't have a problem with a tie, but this time he was.

"You don't look half bad yourself." Skye retorted before chuckling when she saw the aggravation building up. "Here." She walked up to him and pushed his hands aside.

"I got it." Eliot growled as he tried moving her hands aside.

"No you don't." Skye shook her head before tilting her head back just the slightest to look up at him. She felt him grab her hands and she felt herself get lost in his gaze.

"I got it." Eliot's voice became softer, letting the silence hang around them. Unintentionally, he let the world around him fade until Skye became the main focus of his vision. He scanned her face, watching heavy lidded eyes and noticed the bruise on her cheek was long gone. He felt himself being pulled by her gaze.

Skye felt her eyes close as she felt Eliot's lips brush against her just barely. She hated to admit it, but the man made her knees weak and it didn't help that he kissed her. It didn't take long for her senses to come rushing back and she turned her head away from his featherlight kiss. Her surroundings became more clear instead of being blurred, then turned her attention back on Eliot. "Sure you do." Referring back to his statement before slipping her hands out from underneath his hands, walking away. "You're gonna make us more late if you don't hurry."

Eliot closed his eyes, feeling an ache in his heart and a building of frustration. He fixed his tie easily before pulling his hair back, walking towards the coffee table to pick up his earbud. He glanced over at Skye, seeing her wait by the door and quietly talking, probably to one of the members. Placing the earbud in his ear, he heard the conversation instantly. "We're on our way." He growled when he heard the impatience in Hardison's tone.

Skye watched Eliot carefully as he walked towards her, watching the way he walked and seeing the change of his posture. "Eliot." His name came out as a breath and watched him stop in front of her. His expression changed from the scowl to relaxed, a small smile coming across his lips.

"Come on." Eliot reached past Skye, opening the door for her. He watched her walk away, something that she's probably done plenty of times. He couldn't help himself but watch her walk as he closed the door behind him. When she disappeared around the corner, he felt himself able to breathe normally as he locked the door.

X

"Alright we're here. Where are you?" Skye climbed out of Eliot's nicely colored mustang. They both agreed that it was more suitable than his large truck, not that it wouldn't be the first time she had to climb into a truck wearing a dress. She met Eliot when they both started towards the building, and she hooked her hand through the crook of his elbow.

After listening to Sophie explain where they were at, the two spotted Sophie and Nate by the door. Skye gave a short wave before looking over at the table Nate was standing next to. Eliot followed Sky's gaze before watched her pull out an envelope out from her clutch. "What's that?"

"My invitation." Skye putted simply before placing on her charming smile. "Lisa Jenson's sister. Here's the invitation we got." Skye kept her attention on the man at the large table, keeping her gaze on him instead of looking at the others. She saw his look go to Eliot and she piped in before the Eliot had time to speak. "Fiance." She

"Alright, miss, have a good night." The security guard returned her smile with one of his own before letting Skye and Eliot pass and head towards the doors that were guarded by two security guards.

"Thank you. And you too, sir." Skye gave him a wink before pulling Eliot towards the door. Her attention finally went to Nate and she gave him a small shrug. "It's been sitting on the kitchen table for weeks." She gave Eliot a nod as he opened the door for her. The air shifted from warm to cool when the door opened, and Skye couldn't help but relish that feeling. Heels making sharp sounds when connecting with the tile floor, whereas Eliot's footsteps were pretty much silent.

"Any sign of Jordanson?" Nate asked quietly as the four of them waited before the elevator doors.

'He's here.' Parker's voice came through the comm.

"Alright. Skye, Eliot. You two will be getting off first." Nate stepped through the doorway into the luxurious elevator with the three of them. He looked over Skye and Sophie, silently comparing and contrasting the two dresses. He noticed they were the same length, just a few inches above the knee but Sophie's was a dark midnight blue. Skye's was one shouldered whereas the Grifter had both straps. He tilted his head unconsciously before being pulled out of his thoughts when the elevator door chimed.

"You know Nate." Skye turned her head to look at Nate over her shoulder. "It's one thing if Eliot is checking me out. It's another when you do it." She gave him a smile while Sophie and Eliot chuckled. She gave Eliot's arm a light tug before stepping out of the elevator and onto one of the office floors.

Eliot looked around the dark office corridor, walking quietly on the carpeted floor and felt relaxed that Skye's shoes were silenced. He glanced her way when her hand fell from the crook of his elbow and she started stalking in a different direction. Feeling a sense of annoyance and curiosity after walking a few feet, he tapped her but the response he was hoping to get didn't come. He caught her hand just before it connect with his jaw.

"Watch where you're touching Spencer." Skye hissed, the shadows unable to cover her annoyed features but did hide the blush that had ridden up on her cheeks. Freezing in her spot, her ears strained to a faint sound. "Come here." Her voice just above a whisper as she pulled Eliot into the nearest cubicle.

"What?" Eliot fell back from his crouch when Skye quickly placed her hand over his mouth. He then heard what Skye had heard, yet was focused on the woman who was basically on his lap. He heard several voices before the sound of a cell phone ring.

"Ah Mr. Morgan." Jordanson's voice rang out, unaware that him and his fellow colleagues were being heard. "Yes, I'm heading towards my office right now to get the papers."

Both Eliot and Skye glanced at each other, recognizing that Mr. Morgan was Nate's alias. Skye was the first to stand, removing her hand from Eliot's mouth, leaving herself in an almost crouched posture as she peered over the cubicle wall. She spotted five men guarding a hallway that led into Jordanson's corner office. "I'll take them." Eliot whispered as he came up beside her.

"Not all of them." Skye protested as she looked at Eliot.

Eliot closed his eyes, knowing well he wasn't going to win the argument with her. Giving her an annoyed look he nodded. "Just one, but I'll distract them so you can get into Jordanson's office. Understood?"

"Understood, Dad." Skye rolled her eyes before following Eliot out of the cubicle yet then went down a different pathway. It wasn't until she was behind the last cubicle by the hallway that she heard Eliot's voice and the attention of the five guards turned to him.

"Hey guys." Eliot's voice turned into it's usual gruff tone as he waltzed over to the guards.

"You are not supposed to be down here." One of the guard's took a step towards Eliot.

"Yeah I know, I'm just looking for the bathroom." Eliot stopped just two feet away from the guards.

"The available restrooms are in the lobby. Now leave." The first guard walked those few steps and gave Eliot a light shove in the opposite direction.

"Alright alright." Eliot shoved the guard back. Eliot knew that was a fatal mistake since the guard took a swing at him. Eliot's posture turned from relaxed to aggressive in seconds of blocking the punch with one hand and slammed a fist into the first guard's ribs, causing the guard to fall onto all fours coughing. He watched with anticipation when the four other guards rushed him, but instead only found himself fending off three. He heard a strangled cry before the loud crack silencing the fourth guard that never came to him. With two down, Eliot was circled by rest of the guards which consisted of only three. Judging by their stances, each had a military background and experienced killers.

The guard on Eliot's right rushed first, slamming his shoulder into Eliot's stomach. However, Eliot took advantage of the already crouched man by bringing up his knee several times, hoping to hear a crack but the man was able to stand fully upright. Eliot turned to the side, hearing someone come up behind him and connected his elbow to the man's jaw. Once the man backed off, he returned his attention towards the guard who rammed into him, and slammed his foot into the man's ribs. Grateful he heard a snap and the man collapsed onto the ground next to his two other colleagues. Eliot was able to take a quick look around, the first guard was slowly standing whereas Skye's victim laid dead on the ground next to the second guard Eliot had just recently taken down. He looked at the first guard and smirked. "Come on."

X

Skye opened the door to Jordanson's office and sidled in quietly. "Hello Mr. Jordanson." Skye's sultry voice emanated from her mouth and she caught Jordanson moving quickly to look at her. She gave him a small smile as she closed the door behind her before leaning against it.

"L-Luna?" Lance stuttered as he looked at her from head to toe before looking past her at the door. "How did you get here?" He crossed his arms over his chest, ignoring the file that he placed on the desk.

"I'm glad you remember me." Skye took a few steps in his direction before turning her head to side and moved her dark hair over her shoulder. "I had some help." She looked around the office, admiring the large room and the wet bar on one side of the room whereas his large desk was in the opposite corner of the room.

"Alright, but this is private party. How did you get in the building?" Lance gave her a dark but curious look.

"My sister and I was sent an invitation." Skye wandered over to the wet bar, taking control over her building emotions. "My sister used to work for you." Her gaze fell back onto Lance as she walked along the wet bar, her fingers tracing against the granite stone counter. "I'm sure you would recognize her name. Lisa Jenson?" Skye's curious expression didn't change when she saw the small features change. His jaw set, even the twitch of an eyebrow.

"Ah, Ms. Jenson. I heard about the murder on the news. I'm sorry for your loss." Lance expression turned sympathetic.

"I'm sure you are, Mr. Jordanson. After all." Skye's voice trailed off as she picked up a glass and gazed at it before turning the cold stare onto Lance. "She did find that irregular funding happening. What was it? Fifteen million dollars missing?"

"Ms. Jenson, I do hope you're not assuming I was the one who killed your sister." Lance's brows furrowed into a frown.

Skye did a once over and shook her head. The man wasn't terrible looking for his age. Shortly cropped brown hair and green eyes, a nicely set square jaw complimented his manly features. Standing around six foot, his build was lean. "I assure you, I'm not assuming." She watched herself place the glass back down on the countertop. "I've done my homework. You see, Mr. Jordaonson, my sister affirmed that this wasn't the first time an accountant has found some irregular funding in this company." Skye walked up to him, finding herself having to look up to look into his lying green eyes. "Were they getting too nosey?" She whispered and her gaze turned cold as the truth spell out on his features.

"She was becoming a liability." Lance spilled out, taking a step back from the Carolina beauty. "All of them were. They would have called the police if they knew what I was doing." He walked past her towards the bar.

"And what are you up to?" Skye turned, keeping her eyes on her sister's murder.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to tell. After all, why would anyone listen to a whore." Lance turned to look at Skye before leaning against the counter top. He was hoping he'd get a better reaction out of her, but merely shrugged it off. "I'm going to make this company billions. See, there are antibiotics for the pneumonic plague, but you have to take those within the hour of infection. Yet, those just lower the risks of dying by fifty percent. I've not come across a vaccine that you take that prevents you from getting the plague, nor completely rids the plague once you've been infected." He watched her annoyed look shift into a form of curiosity. "My partner, Mr. Marrero, makes what you can call a sort of bomb. That fifteen million your sister found missing? It went to him. See when the pneumonic plague bomb goes off, people will be rushing into every medical facility they can find to get my cure."

"And nobody here knows about it but you and Marrero?" Skye leaned against his desk, a disgusting feeling rising through her system when Lance shook his head. "You wont get away with this." She spoke through clenched teeth.

"Oh I'm sure I've already had. Plus you have no proof that I killed your sister or that I plan on detonating a pneumonic plague bomb." Lance gave her a ruthful smile as he took a few steps towards her. "I sure hope you get the vaccine before the bomb blows on Monday morning."

"You murderer!" Skye's fist made impact with Lance Jordanson's jaw, causing him to stumble back a few steps. She watched his features show a sign of surprise before anger replaced it in seconds. A part of her wanted to snap his neck or kill him the same way his men killed her sister. She felt sick when he confessed his sins to her, even though she was a killer herself.

"Guards!" Lance yelled, keeping his eyes fixedly on the woman he only knew as Luna. When no one came, he called again but silence hung in the air until he heard the woman chuckle almost devilishly. It was then he watched the door open and in came a man with a dark look.

"You're men wont be joining us tonight." Eliot spoke, fixing his stare on Jordanson even as he came up to Skye but still in the blindspot of the camera. Several countries wanted his head, and he sure as hell wasn't willing to be caught on camera even if Hardison was controlling them.

Lance glared at the two before him before leaving his gaze on Skye. "What do you want?" He snapped, hesitantly glancing over at Eliot before bringing his attention on Skye.

"You offering a bribe?" Skye arched an eyebrow, she inwardly smiled when she noticed Lance's gaze would flick to Eliot behind her. When she watched Lance nod her gaze turned into a dark scowl. "Fifteen million. Give me fifteen million dollars."

"And you'll keep your mouth shut?" Lance walked over to his desk, keeping his eyes on the two before him.

"Scouts honor." Skye raised her right hand with her middle and index finger extended to a salute.

"I'm surprised you didn't want more." Lance pulled out a check and began scribbling the numbers and his signature. He stood up fully, extending the check out to the woman.

"You killed my sister for finding fifteen million dollars missing." Skye took the check and placed it in her black clutch.

"Now, if you'll excuse me. I must get back to the celebration. Enjoy your stay Ms. Jenson." Lance picked up the papers he was once holding and quickly removed himself from the room, giving Eliot a dark glare before exiting.

"You alright?" Eliot watched Skye's back, seeing the stiffness in her posture.

"Yeah." Skye nodded before turning around, finally seeing Eliot since he walked through the door. "Your hair's a mess, your tie is loose, and you have a blood stain on your shirt." Skye pointed out as she walked past him, towards the door. "Care to enjoy the celebration before it's ruined by the FBI?"

Eliot chuckled as he turned to face Skye. "Sure." He smiled, pulling his hair back into a ponytail and fixing his tie.

'Oh how I love when a plan falls together.' Hardison's voice piped in and Skye gave a true smile.


	13. Chapter 13

The air was cool on a mid afternoon, summer day. A quiet breeze flitted through the air, making the day bearable to the sun's heat. The sound of cars were faded into the distance, leaving a peaceful aura around the cemetery. Faint voices could be heard at the small gathering outside of the chapel, sitting silently under a pale white gazebo. The gathering was small, having only four rows of chairs while some others preferred to stand. Before the group was a pedestal and beside it was a brightly colored purple casket.

Currently standing at the pedestal was Skye who wore an a 1960 Adolfo Designer little black halter dress with a chantilly lace around the shoulders. Her black hair pulled up into a beautiful, messy bun. Strands of hair framed her face. A silver cross hung around her neck, something she had always worn but was always hidden. Skye looked at the people before her. She closed her eyes as she controlled her overwhelming emotions. "First of all, I'd like to thank everyone for attending. It means more than you know that you would take your time away from your life to spend it here as we say goodbye to Lisa." She looked at the casket, knowing well her sister would be amazed an appalled that Skye was able to find a purple casket just for her. "Lisa was the best sister I could ask for." She looked down at the pedestal before looking at the group, finding the gang of thieves sitting in the back row. "Growing up, I was always the one protecting her. I rarely smiled truly for myself. She taught me to smile without even realizing it. She was this giant ray of sunshine, always smiling no matter what happened. She told me she refused to let her life waste away by being mad at the small things that come along." She closed her eyes, both hands gripping tightly on the pedestal. She took a deep breath. "I'm not sure if any of you know what it's like to lose a sibling. Someone you can go to without having to worry about them spilling a secret. Yeah at a young age, Lisa would bluntly tell our parents that I got in a fight again." She smirked at the casket, gazing down at her sister.

Lisa was the opposite of Skye. She instead had golden red hair, green eyes hidden behind close lids. To the world, the woman looked like she was sleeping. Yet the world knew that this woman would never wake up again.

"She was my best friend, my sister." She felt her lips tremble. "My life." She looked back at the group, finding a few close relatives, friends of Lisa's from work. She walked up to the open side of the casket showing the face of her beloved sister. "Tá súil agam gur féidir Dia chosaint níos fearr ná mar a raibh mé in ann tú."She looked away before walking around the pedestal and found her empty chair besides Eliot in the back row.

Nate cleared his throat as he stood up. It pained him to see Skye in this state but he remembered her with Lisa at Sam's funeral. His feet felt heavy as he walked over to the pedestal and looked over the small crowd. "My name is Nathan Ford. I'm sure some of you may recognize me and I understand if some of you don't." He gave a small smile towards an elderly lady, seeing it was Skye's aunt on her mother side. "I haven't seen Lisa and Skye for five years. We kept light contact though, but I grew up with Lisa. I remember Skye jumping up and down with this big grin on her face, screaming at me that she has a little sister." He smiled when he heard a few chuckles and kept eye contact with Skye. "When Lisa got older, she gave me this image of an older brother. Going to elementary and high school together, I managed to keep that image for her. As did Lisa and Skye keep that image of being the best little sisters I could ask for." He smiled a bit. "Lisa was the complete opposite of Skye. Skye was mean and aggressive, the brother out of the two. Whereas Lisa, well, she was kind and gentle. Sure over the years Skye became more like a lady but it was Lisa who shone out more.

She was our little Angel. Always compassionate and caring for you. It didn't matter who you were, she would smile at you and you'd get this feeling that the world wasn't such a bad place. I remember Skye telling me this story of what our little Lisa did. By the way, Skye was scolding Lisa as she was telling me this story. Now it was at a gas station and there was some teenage boy trying to steal something. Lisa caught him but brought him home with her and Skye. Let him use the shower, gave him a full meal and a couple twenties before sending him off." He leaned against the pedestal watching Skye smile. "I can't say I know a lot of people would do that." Nate looked at the group before looking at the casket. "Lisa, you were our Angel. It's a shame that you were taken from us." He brought a hand up to his lips before placing the hand on her forehead. He gave everyone a short nod before walking back to his seat besides Skye. He watched as she stood up and he returned the hug she gave him.

"Thank you."

X

"Oh jeeze, not this story again." Nate complained leaning back away from Skye as she leaned to side trying to cover his mouth as she laughed.

"It's just too funny because we didn't expect you to do it!" Skye exclaimed before looking at the group. "So Lisa always did this thing where she'd randomly come up to you and say 'Tag you're it!' and just run off. Well Nate here, went after her. Well we had put some oil in the hallway. Now we had tile floors back at the other house. So Lisa jumps over the pile of as she made a quick turn. Nate here, didn't know that I had just put oil on the floor. Well so he went off sliding down the hallway and dad kinda knew about it. So when he heard Nate yelling, he came out of the room and instantly clothesline poor Nate here. We were just hoping Nate would hit the wall. It sucked cause Lisa and I were stuck cleaning for a week, but in the end Dad was laughing as he was telling Mom about it." Skye laughed, using her hands to give the group a bit of a visual of what happened.

"Jeeze." Nate shook his head as the group laughed hysterically over the incident back in high school. He eyed Skye with a smile but curiously when she ordered another shot of whiskey. "Shouldn't you take it easy?"

"Says the man who's mostly drunk." Skye arched an eyebrow as she easily downed the whiskey, feeling the alcohol warm her down to her toes. She placed the shot glass down before smiling. "I should probably go home." She lifted her purse from the floor and pulled out her phone.

"Whoa, nice phone." Parker looked over Skye's shoulder.

"Droid." Skye simply as she checked the time. "Wow, it's almost midnight." Skye laughed as she looked up at the team that surrounded her. "Thank you. All of you, so much." She smiled at each one, feeling a sort of at peace now that her sister's murder and Marrero were now in prison.

"Skye, can I-?"

"No." Skye looked at Nate before sliding off the bar stool. "I know what you're gonna ask, but no. You don't need me. You're already the best." She gave him a weak smile. "Don't worry, I'll grab a cab." She turned to the group and gave them all a short salute before heading out towards the glass doors of McRory's.

"You know, I was hoping I'd give this back to her." Hardison fingered the little earbud before placing into his pocket.

"I already miss her." Parker looked at the empty seat between her and Nate. "I don't know about you guys, but she made me feel like I was actually normal." She looked at the other members and each one nodded in agreement.

"Well I'm out. I'll see you guys in the morning." Hardison slipped off the stool and listened as Parker agreed that she was leaving too.

Sophie watched the Thief and the Hacker leave before looking at Eliot who sat quietly beside her. "And you're okay with this?" She asked, breaking his trance from staring blankly at the bottle of beer in front of him.

Eliot shrugged. "Nothing I can do. She doesn't want to be part of the team, I'm not going to force her." He glanced at her before roughly shoving back his hair. Ever since Skye left his house after the run in with Lance, his house felt empty. He was slowly getting accustomed to her lounging around his living room or reading a book outside while he worked on his garden. The times they would talk for hours after they had finished dinner. He'd never admit it, but he would miss the Cowboy nickname Skye placed on him.

Sophie placed a hand on Eliot's arm. "But you're just gonna let her walk out of your life, just like that?" She asked quietly watching Eliot as he turned to look at her. For once, Eliot's cover was down and she saw the pain he was going through. Like encouraging a child, Sophie gave Eliot a push as she motioned her head towards the door. "Go on."

Eliot shook his head as he looked back at the half empty bottle sitting abandoned on the bar table. "She's probably already home now."

"So?" Sophie shrugged. "This is a chance for you to prove to her that she means something to you." Her expression sympathetic. "I will never forgive you if you don't go and I never see that girl again."

Eliot frowned slightly. "You do know she lives here, so there is a chance we may run into her."

Sophie raised her brows. "She didn't tell you?"

"Didn't tell me what?" Eliot gave Sophie a curious look, wondering what Skye had told to the Grifter. "What did she tell you?"

Sophie's brows lowered as she gave him a weak look. "She's moving back to South Carolina next week." Right after the words were out of her mouth, she saw the disappointment in Eliot's eyes before watching him rush out of the bar.

"Is she really moving?" Nate looked at Sophie and saw her nod. "And why did she tell you?"

"She didn't Nate. I overheard her talking on the phone about moving back to her father's estate." Sophie looked at her bottled beer before lifting it gingerly.

X

Skye jerked awake after hearing a banging sound on her door. Quickly removing herself from her bed and forgetting the robe, she ran to the door as the banging continued. Turning on the living room light, she unlocked the door, afraid that whoever was on the other side might break it down. Opening the door, she stumbled back a few steps when she saw a fist raised in the air and a pissed off Eliot at her door. "Eliot?"

"You're moving?" Eliot snapped and saw the shock on the woman's features.

"How did you-?"

"Didn't it ever occur to you to maybe tell me?" Eliot walked in, noticing that he was forcing Skye away from him.

"Like it even matters." Skye found her footing and held her ground at where she stood, forcing herself to look up at an angry Eliot who stood inches away from her.

"It does." Eliot growled as he looked at her, finding himself unable to pull away from her gaze.

"Why." Skye's question sounded more like a statement than a question. She waited for him to answer, watching him look away from her as her question hung in the air. "Why does it matter, Eliot!" She snapped.

Eliot shook his head as he took a step back. "Because I want you to stay!" He shouted back feeling taken aback when Skye pushed him away.

"Let me go Eliot!" Skye watched as the anger built up in him. "You don't need me!"

"Yes I do!" Eliot couldn't help as his voice grew louder.

"Prove it! Prove to me that you need me!" Skye cried feeling unshed tears come up. "Let me go." Her voice lost its volume and fell weak.

"No." Eliot walked those few steps, closing the distance between them. He gently cupped her face in his hands, taking in the face he couldn't get out of his mind. He didn't hesitate his next move cause a part of him knew if he did, she'd walk out of his life. His lips fell onto hers, a part of him thought she'd resist but no resistance came towards the action. After a moment, he pulled away, his lips gently brushing against hers. He opening his eyes, finding himself gazing into her pale blue ones. "Proof enough?"

Skye couldn't hold back her smile. "I hate you so much." She placed her hands on his chest, gripping the front of his shirt. "Come here, Cowboy."

**Author's note: For all of you who don't know Irish. What Skye said to Lisa was "I hope God can protect you better than I could." I tried to throw in the "Let Me Go' lyrics in the end, but it's hard to make an argument from that :P. Thank you all for reading, I hope to possibly continue this team in a different story. Feel free to post a comment if you want more or send me a message.**


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